Lost Garde
by DestinySilverrose17
Summary: Developing legacies and having a government determined now more than ever to hunt you down isn't easy and Riley knows this for a fact. When a strange alert makes them come out of hiding will she risk her safety for the safety of others? With the threat of the cure and the camp in tatters are they ready for war? One can hope they will be before they pass the point of no return.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

Gia chuckled as she heard Riley call Adel's bluff again.

"I believe the deck is yours." Henri quipped.

Gia continued her surveillance of the internet. It had now been a little over a month since it all went down. Everything had settled down by now, the hunt for them had fallen out of the public's eyes. But that didn't mean Earth Garde wasn't still out there waiting for them.

She continued to scan the headlines. Her laptop chirped for an incoming email. She turned from her setup to her laptop and opened the new email. Her laptop was completely secured from anything that could give her away. Only her parents and grandfather could contacted it. The email was her grandfather Malcolm.

 _Gia I've been researching the supposed cure. It works like a antibiotic almost. Legacies are genetic I believe either inherited or a genetic mutation or both. Like a disease the antibiotics kill it and the body disposed of it. They can't identify a source of it though so that's why it takes a day to fully take effect. Legacies aren't in a specific part of the body their everywhere and it's different for everyone. But they've only tested it on human Garde. I think it only works because these people are still human, just with legacies. If I understand how it works it shouldn't work on Garde like your mother or Henri and Adelina. Because they don't have a single human strand of DNA in them. It's all Loric inside them. I hope your all safe and sound. I love you both._

 _Malcolm_

Gia sighed and closed the email. She heard Adelina squeal with joy and call out Riley. Gia shook her head and laughed.

"Alright guys keep it down while I listen to the scanner frequencies." Gia chuckled.

She turned to a different device and put on her headset. First was the police channels. Which were usually very boring, maybe a petty crime or a car chase. But today they were alive with communication of lots of officers. She pulled up her map on another screen and looked for the location of all the commotion. Volunteer park in the heart of Seattle, Lincoln park on the outskirts, Freeway park nestled into the urban area, and Carkeek park to the north. Units were scrambling to cover such a vast area.

Protesters by the hundreds were spreading out throughout the city. She rolled back over to her laptop and pulled up the news, what had the whole city stirred up? She couldn't believe she's missed it earlier it was practically everywhere. Congress was working on a law to ban sanctuary cities for Human Garde. It was up for vote on Capitol Hill.

"Holy crap." She muttered.

She yanked her headset off and faced the others.

"I'd be on high alert now. Seattle is exploding with protestors."

"Congress is working on making a bill that would ban sanctuary cities for Human Garde." Gia announced.

"Can they do that?" Adelina questioned cautiously.

"Yeah does it really matter what Congress says about sanctuary cities? Earth Garde is an international organization. Isn't the UN above them?" Sidney inquired. Gia gave Riley a sharp look.

"Well? What's the official verdict Mrs know it all?" Gia glared.

"All I know is Earth Garde funds the academy and EG. Don't ask me who's the head honcho. I'd assume it's who holds the purse strings." Riley shrugged.

"Why are we quoting Mrs Litia?" Casey chuckled. He walked in with Kat.

"Discussing who's the head honcho of Earth Garde." Gia answered.

"You say my father I bean you." Riley warned.

"Oh I know for a fact if he was head honcho of EG things would be very different." Casey smirked.

"We'd all have very different lives." Kat scoffed.

"So the UN can do whatever they want pretty much." Gia groaned, turning back to her computers.

"No they can't storm into any country without reason. Just like police can't break into houses without justifiable cause. EG can't just start ripping apart the world until they find each and every last of us." Riley explained.

"So in the case we get caught the only one guaranteed safety is Riley." Casey replied casually.

"Oh really? Says who?" Riley inquired with a smirk. She knew his answer but needed to hear it for herself.

"Because your father is professor Nine. The head of the Human Garde Academy. EG doesn't want to tick off you father by curing you so you get the free pass because your father is the big bad wolf." Casey answered with a grin.

"And yet again the one who doesn't even know how to control herself gets the free pass because of daddy." Gia drawled, voice dripping with disdain.

"I thought you got over this weeks ago." Riley groaned. Gia whirled her wheelchair back around to face her.

"Does this look like it'll go away in a few weeks?" Gia featured to her legs. "No it never will so bite me princess." Gia hissed. She turned back towards her tech and put her headset back on. Riley heard Kat sigh in defeat.

"I apologize that my sister has a double dose of our mothers temper." Kat frowned.

"Is she ever going to get over the fact that the loss of her legs isn't my fault?" Riley huffed.

"I believe you have a better chance of Earth Garde leaving us alone than Gia getting over that." Casey quipped.

"Or Adelina winning this game." Henri joked. Adelina glared at her twin brother and put down another card.

Katarina laughed as Casey tried sparring with Riley but she had to admit the girl was getting good. She was flickering in and out of sight and when she appeared she was on the offensive with no mercy. Casey kept tripping on his own feet trying to keep up with her.

Kat knew if Riley didn't knock him down soon she was going to run out of steam and get creamed by him. They'd been going for almost ten minutes and Riley hadn't been able to hold it for more than ten minutes. Casey dodged the spiky green ball assault and dived for where it came from. With a cry in alarm he managed to break her concentration.

They both tumbled to the ground and Riley flailed in his grip. Kat already knew the girls last line of defense and it wasn't going to be pretty for Casey. Riley smacked the floor with her open palm and instantly her body shifted to become like cement. Casey didn't have time to recover before she nailed him straight in the jaw. There was a horrifying crunch of bones breaking Casey crumpled to the ground. He let out a moan in agony. Riley reverted back to normal. She braced her hands on her knees and panted. Adelina tossed her a bottle of water and then walked over to Casey. She knelt next to him and went to work on his broken jaw.

Sidney clapped enthusiastically. "That was amazing!"

Henri chuckled. "You are getting significantly better than since we met you."

Gia scoffed from her corner with the software.

"Problem?" Riley inquired, hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised. "Nope not one single problem." Gia casually replied, but Riley sensed the tenseness in her tone.

She was biting her tongue, a skill Riley had come to believe the girl didn't possess. The music coming from the radio stopped and a crackly voice came across the airwaves.

"Betrayed by one of their own, the remainder forced to scatter. Five gone and five remain. Are you guys out there?" It spoke.

Gia glared at the radio before setting to work. Objects started floating around her workstation as she started mumbling to herself.

"Whatcha ya doin G?" Kat questioned.

"Getting ready to get us some info should that come on again." Gia snapped. The radio crackled with static for five minutes as they all anxiously waited.

A cough echoed over the airwaves.

"One fell at eight. Two fell at twelve. Three fell at sixteen. Four will fall next. Is anyone out there?" The voice spoke.

"It sounds female." Adelina commented.

Gia was madly working as the voice goes silent. Everyone else went silent waiting for more.

"Five betrayed his kind again. Are the rest of you out there?" The voice questioned.

"One more moment." Gia mumbled.

The radio went static again.

"Ahah! Got them!" Gia exclaimed.

The radio gave a sharp and loud sound of feedback and the music resumed.

"Who was that?" Sidney quivered.

"Obviously someone who knows the tale of the original Garde." Henri replied.

"So where we gonna G?" Kat questioned.

"We are," Gia spoke.

"Hold up. Pause for a moment. Let's think about this." Riley held up her hands. "We can't be brash or we'll be the next group to fall to EG. Didn't your parents teach you anything?" Riley inquired, looking at Kat.

"Our father told us about the internet post number two did hours before the Mogadorians killed her." Adelina offered.

"Exactly." Riley spoke with certainty.

"And that Six's Cêpan commented on it which led to the Mogs capturing them weeks later." Henri helpfully added.

Gia scoffed.

"So we need to think about this and approach with caution." Casey replied. "How do you know it's not another group of refugees begging for help?" Kat demanded.

"How do you know it's not EG trying to smoke us out?" Riley shot back. "Ladies." Casey interrupted.

"We don't know either that's the point. The source of our radio pirates are or were broadcasting from Olympia Regional Airport. Feeding off the airports radio tower." Gia answered.

"If it's coming from an airport what's the chances EG is screwing with us?" Kat questioned.

"It's a fifty fifty shot." Casey and Riley answered.

"If it's our friends Earth Garde why would they use a airport radio tower?Don't they got their own radios strong enough to broadcast statewide?" Gia inquired.

"But they could be trying to throw us off scent and make it look like another fracture of the camp is trying to get help." Casey argued.

"Or it could actually be our compatriots begging for help as a last resort." Kat demanded.

"Shut up!" Adelina hollered. They all stopped and stared at her in awe.

"Kat why don't you assign two of us to scout it out? How far away is Olympia airport from here? How we getting there? What if it is actually a group asking for help? What if it's EG trying to smoke us out?" Adelina buried Kat in questions.

"I'll go." Riley offered.

"You most certainly will not. Why must you keep throwing yourself to the wolves?" Casey argued.

"Casey you are way too valuable to everyone to go. I'm expendable. Besides think about it for a moment. I'm the daughter of Nine who is the head of the Human Garde Academy. Even if I'm caught they won't dare use the cure on me without inflicting my father's all encompassing wrath on them." Riley pointed out.

Casey's shoulders slumped.

"She has a point." Kat remarked.

"Your worse than Ceci." He groaned.

"Who goes with her though?" Gia questioned.

"Sidney stays put, you and Casey aren't going either." Kat listed off.

Gia rolled her hazel eyes.

"Much as it will irritate you I'll go with her. That way either way we're prepared." Kat decided.

"Awesome when we leave and how we leave?" Riley inquired, bouncing to her feet.

"Olympia regional is only about a little more than an hour south." Gia added.

"I hijack a car and Riley hides under a blanket?" Kat suggested.

Riley rolled her bright blue eyes at the idea.

"How do you plan to hide someone who is six and half feet tall?" Henri quipped.

Casey laughed. "He's got ya there Ri."

"Well I'm available to any other options?" Kat huffed.

Casey locked eyes with Riley and smirked.

 _Don't you dare or I will cave in your skull._ Riley warned.

 _Trust me Ri. I got a very different idea._ He teased.

 _Remember, I can cave in your skull._ Riley reminded.

"How about we use a Xithras stone? Kat can shapeshift but she can also infuse one with that ability and give to to Riley? Then Riley could shapeshift." Casey suggested.

"Riley your father gave you one right?" Kat questioned.

"Duh." She answered.

"Okay we'll start packing and leave immediately. Gia find out anything and everything about what we're walking into." Kat requested.

Riley could've sworn she saw Gia sneer at her sister and mutter to herself as she went back to her technology. Gia was getting crankier by the day.

Right before they left Casey snagged Riley away from Kat.

"You will be coming back to me this time. I don't like you going out when you still need lots of training." Casey frowned.

"I'll be fine Casey. Have a little faith in me. Besides it's probably nothing." Riley reassured. He pecked her on the cheek.

"Just be safe Ri." He sighed.

"Come on Riley! If we leave now we can be there and back before dark." Kat called from the door.

"Love you, see you tonight." Riley smiled. She kissed his cheek before walking over to Kat.

"You got two hours before I'll need to recharge it." Kat advised, tossing her the yellow stone. Riley caught it and chuckled.

"Let's get this show on the road."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

"So Gia tell me where we're going. If they're broadcasting from the radio tower would they have to physically be connected to it?" Kat questioned into her crystal. She's wrapped it up except for the tip where her finger touched it and she spoke into it.

"They're not actually using the radio tower, the transmitter is actually just stronger than originally assumed. They're using the radio tower to mask their signal." Gia explained.

"Chances of this being the government just went down a little." Riley quipped.

"I don't care how they're doing it I just want to know where they're doing it." Kat huffed.

Riley heard a subtle snicker in the background.

"The farthest hangar is where the signal seems to be originating from," Gia answered.

"The tower is all the way over there. How did you miss this?" Casey teased.

"Casey I will beat you up if you don't leave me alone." Gia snapped.

"Bring it crippled." Casey joked.

"Alright, children behave." Kat requested before covering up her crystal. "Farthest hangar," Kat repeated.

"Excellent, we got a read on hostiles?" Riley inquired.

Kat scoffed and revealed the tip of her crystal again.

"Gia if you're not to busy killing Casey, get us eyes in the sky. We need to know if we got company either here or coming." Kat told her.

"Aye aye captain," Gia spoke.

"Extra muscle on standby." Casey quipped.

"Go away!" Gia demanded.

Kat rolled her hazel eyes at the crystal and they marched down to the hangars. The weather wasn't bad it was kind of nice compared to the nonstop rain since they landed in Seattle. It didn't take them long from the parking lot to see their target. The flat land really helped them in having a full view of their surroundings.

"What the?" Kat muttered, squinting at the hangars.

Riley also looked at the last hangar as they approached the three rows of hangars. Two people were sitting on the roof of the hangar.

"I'm now definitely sure it's not EG. They wouldn't be that careless." Kat scoffed.

They both ran all the way to the last hangar. Kat looked up at the roof.

"What in the name of Lorien are you doing up there Chase?" Kat called.

"Shush." A familiar voice hissed.

Out of the shadows of one of the bays came a woman with a brown ponytail and harsh blue eyes. She was holding a girl in her arms that couldn't be any older than six.

"Glad to see you folks, must be the message worked." Cecilia greeted.

She sauntered back into the bay and they followed her. Inside were eight more children between the ages of ten to twelve. The girl in her arms whimpered.

"Hey, it's okay sweetie, I got you," Cecilia whispered in her ear.

Kat gave her a questioning look.

Cecilia frowned. "She's a newbie that was retrieved while you guys were at the academy. She has nothing but she lost her older sister in the raid. Her older sister is a Human Garde." Cecilia answered.

The girl nestled into her.

"What possessed you to send a message? That's like giving EG a sign pointing directly at you for them." Riley inquired rudely.

"Because we were looking for help. They've been chasing us across the country the past few weeks."

A young woman replied working with some device on the floor by the door. Her hair was like cornsilk and her eyes as blue as the sky.

"I never knew Emma was technologically skilled," Kat smirked.

"It's pretty simple to hijack a radio signal. But I'm nowhere near as good as your sister Gia." Emma casually replied.

"Folks EG just pulled into the parking lot. They aren't screwing around. There's gotta be ten vehicles full of agents piling out of the main parking lot." Gia warned through the still activated crystal in Kat's hand.

Cecilia swore. Emma sprang into action and packed up her gear into a bag. Cecilia ran outside and they followed her.

"Chase! I need your feet on the ground! We got company!" Cecilia called. Kat motioned for Riley to follow her as they peeked out around the corner of the opposing hangar.

"They're surrounding the whole airfield." Gia cautioned.

"Well, they certainly want us don't they?" Kat quipped.

"Kat, no screwing around. Get outta there." Gia scolded.

A boy with blonde hair and brown eyes jumped off the roof and landed on all fours. A girl younger but with similar features leaped down after him.

"Cover me while I get us some cover," Kat instructed.

She started rotating her right hand in full circles. The sky started to darken. Kat's muscles tensed as the sky continued to darken, clouds covering the once blue sky. Chase placed both hands on the ground and seemed to be pulling something straight out of the ground.

"Come on." He muttered.

Emma and Cecilia had rounded up all their charges and gathered outside.

"He won't get it ready before they descend upon on us." The blonde girl next to Chase admitted.

Cecilia handed off the little girl to Emma.

"Then we make time," Cecilia spoke with determination.

She and Riley walked to cover Kat as she seemed to be brewing a storm in the sky. And yep a whole squadron of EG agents was coming there way. Kats storm only seemed to be intensifying. Lighting struck in the middle of the squadron hand took the majority of it down. But some agents continued forth.

Riley felt the air crackle with energy near Cecilia. Riley didn't know what she was going to use but she was going to defend her friends.

"Come and get it, boys!" Cecilia taunted, balls of energy forming in her hands.

Riley decided the woman must've been very familiar with these standoffs. Riley smiled and flickered out of existence. She picked up a rock from the dirt path and slipped into the ranks of agents. She didn't know how long she could hold out using two legacies at once but she wasn't back down. She nailed unsuspecting agents just like she'd nailed Casey earlier.

She and Cecilia tore into the agents with no mercy just as the agents had no mercy for them. They seemed eager to target Cecilia with their devices but she kept deflecting them telekinetically.

"I ain't the little girl you're familiar with." Cecilia teased.

They took out the first round of agents and Riley was wiped.

"How we doing?" Cecilia called back.

"It's difficult to get it to come up. I don't why I'm struggling so much." Chase answered.

"We just happened to pick an area where loralite must be hard to summon," Emma added.

"I need a few more minutes," Chase argued.

"I don't think they want to give us a few more minutes. They got reinforcements." Riley warned.

Cecilia cursed again and bone fragments seemed to spring from her arms. "You holding up rookie?" Cecilia questioned.

"Never been better." Riley panted.

She wasn't sure she could handle more agents. The last round was much more tiring than she'd imagined.

"Keep up that storm Katarina!" Cecilia encouraged.

"Don't call me that!" Kat shouted.

Another lighting strike descended upon the approaching troops.

"Atta girl!" Cecilia laughed.

Riley couldn't imagine laughing at this moment but maybe Cecilia was crazier than she'd originally assumed. Riley took a deep breath and threw herself back into the fray. But this group seemed harder, or maybe she was just running out of steam.

"I got it!" Chase called through the chaos. Riley turned to see a glowing blue rock sticking out of the ground.

Emma was having everyone hold hands.

"Go we'll hold them off!" Cecilia commanded.

Riley's went with her gut.

"Go! We'll hold them off!" Riley argued.

"Not a chance," Cecilia demanded.

Kat grabbed Cecilia and started pulling her towards the others.

"You're too important," Kat informed her.

"I'll see you in a bit then," Cecilia whispered in her ear.

Kat looked at Cecilia confused.

"Come on the next loralite crystal is in Lincoln Park, Seattle," Chase whispered.

"Go!" Riley commanded.

Kat frowned at Riley before joining hands with the rest. Just as they disappeared Riley accidentally faded back into existence. She was overcome by the officials before she could regain her concentration.

But she refused to go down without a fight. She punched, kicked, and hit them with anything her telekinesis could reach. Even once they cuffed her she still was kicking and punching. She didn't give up until they stabbed something into her and a wave of exhaustion took her away.

They all unceremoniously tumbled onto the grass one right after the other. Kat rolled out of the way and punched the ground.

"Where's Riley?" She demanded.

Cecilia righted herself and took attendance. She double checked it and then sighed. "I'm sorry Kat but Riley didn't make it back."

"She has too. This was just an innocent reconnaissance mission." Kat huffed.

"She can still make it to the stone, can't she? The loralite crystal is still there isn't it?" Kat inquired.

Chase frowned and shook his head.

"We didn't use a naturally occurring loralite stone, I had to summon one from under the earth. The minute we went through it'll sink back into the ground."

"No!" Kat exclaimed. "This isn't happening, it's not a part of the plan," Kat muttered.

"Kat," Cecilia started.

"If it wasn't for your stupidity in broadcasting that message she'd still be with us! Who knows what they're doing to her!" Kat yelled at Cecilia.

"Katarina Sarah Goode." Cecilia barked.

Kat froze on command.

"Riley did what had to be done. We all wouldn't have gotten out of there. EG was out for their prey, someone needs to make sure we'd all make through the crystal. Riley's father would've done the same exact thing. She put herself on the line to protect the rest of us. Now she has to rely on her father's connections to keep her safe." Cecilia lectured.

Kat frowned and sat up.

"Well then feel free to repeat that lecture to Casey. He's quite smitten with her. He's gonna be livid that she was lost again." Kat informed her.

"How'd you know there was a crystal here?" Kat questioned.

"Eden and I grew up in Seattle. I remembered it being here." Chase shrugged.

"So where you folks at?" Eden inquired.

"Abandoned warehouse on Ohio Ave south," Kat answered.

"Well, then ladies and gentlemen let's get walking. We got some ground to cover before we get even close to the industrial district." Chase announced.

Riley came too eventually, she lazily opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in a simple cot with metal side railings. Both of her hands were cuffed to the railing with scramblers. So we're her feet. Riley tried to use any of her legacies but all in vain, her head felt like something was trying to get out.

"Crap." She groaned, squeezing her eyes closed.

Hopefully, they ship her to academy. That's the only good outcome is putting her in the academy. That way she could at least help from the inside.

"Hello!" Riley called to the empty room. The room was horribly bland with all the white. She wasn't in a hospital, she was in a processing center. The question is was that a good thing or not? She was gonna have to play it by ear.

"I know there's gotta be someone out there!" Riley called.

"Calm down. You're not in trouble yet." An older woman scolded walking in.

"Sue me if I had to go the bathroom when you finally decide to rejoin the living." She huffed. The woman had graying blonde hair and tired dark eyes. She wobbled over to an intercom on the walk and pushed a button. "She's awake."

A few minutes later a man Riley could guess was a commander came in with four other agents. She tried searching her brain for this guys name. She was captured in Washington so who was the Commander in charge of Washington? She was drawing a blank on anything about the people in this state. He was normal size but held himself with authority. He looked like the hundreds of other officials she'd seen.

"Unless you'd like me to address you as LANE I'd recommend you tell us your name." The oldest looking man spoke coldly.

"I didn't know LANE was still in use," Riley commented.

"Don't be wise." The man scowled. Riley sat up in her bed. She rested her hands on the rails for they couldn't go much farther.

"If you tell me your name I'll tell you mine." Riley offered.

"Commander William Kennedy of Washington state. You?" He questioned.

"Riley Lexa Worthington of nowhere," Riley answered.

"Now that we have introduced each other I would like to ask you some questions. Answer them truthfully and honestly and we may be able to work out a deal between us." He calmly explained.

"Excuse me? What have I been charged with?" Riley inquired, trying to not sound irritated. She knew exactly what charges could be put on her but better let him tell her what they were.

"Aiding and abetting the refugees that have evaded the system. Rather vehemently attacking unsuspecting Earth Garde troops. And you are a known accomplice of the leader's of the refugee camp." One of his lackeys read off a tablet.

"You think I work with the leaders of the Human Garde refugee camp? Pfft. Who told you that?" Riley chuckled.

"Well, it isn't a secret you and Casey Raya grew up together until he ran away." Commander William answered.

"So what? Doesn't mean I have any contact with him since then." Riley argued.

"Surveillance cameras from your school show two wanted refugees in your school right before the power was cut. Casey Raya and Gia Goode." The same lackey reported.

Riley actually couldn't find a way to talk herself out of that bit of evidence.

"Moving on to the next line of questioning. You relentlessly attacked unsuspecting ground troops. What do you have to say for yourself?" He questioned.

"That those soldiers were far from unsuspecting. Just because they didn't see me doesn't mean they weren't ready for a fight. I didn't relentlessly attack them either. I attacked them in self-defense." Riley reasoned.

"Okay so now onto the part of you tell me what I need to know and I make sure you keep you legacies with a one-way ticket to the Academy." Commander William's face was like stone.

"Umm, sir. She's professor Nine's only daughter. He's very protective of her." Another lackey interrupted.

"Then he should've kept better track of her shouldn't he?" William scowled.

"Now you were spotted at the Olympia Regional Airport with a wanted group of LANEs. We know you weren't part of the group we've been tracking for the past two weeks. So you were there with an accomplice probably responding to their pathetic SOS." He coldly explained to her.

"Was there a question in there sir?" Riley inquired.

"Name all the targets there and where were they escaping too? We know they used one of those loralite crystals to escape but before any of my men could follow them the thing sank back into the ground." He scowled.

"I ain't no snitch." Riley sneered. "Besides I don't know where on earth her majesty was taking everyone. Those crystals are everywhere." Riley casually shrugged.

"Sylinda? Will you do the honors?" William questioned, still completely emotionless.

"Sir? Are you really going to do it to her?" The same lackey protested.

"She's another one of those loose cannons. Since her father doesn't seem to be able to keep her on a tight lease we'll be doing him a favor." He reasoned with no emotion whatsoever.

The woman left the room quickly, probably getting supplies for what Riley had seen and heard all about. The cure for legacies.

"You can still come clean and this all stops." William reminded.

Riley wasn't a snitch and she didn't care what they did to her. Just like her father and the other Garde, she would sacrifice herself to save others. Her father never cracked when the mogs held him captive and she wouldn't crack for these people. But that didn't stop her heart from trying to break out of her chest when Sylinda walked back in with a small tray. Riley's stomach had taken residence in her chest and moved her heart up into her throat. She felt sick which was one of the main side effects of the cure. Flu-like symptoms for a week after injection. She'd been reading Malcolm's reports to Gia about it.

"Roll up her left sleeve please." Sylinda politely requested. William walked over and rolled up Riley's left sleeve.

That's when she decided she wasn't going to snitch but she wasn't going down without a fight. She yanked hard against her restraints, legacies miserably failing due to the scramblers.

"Hold her steady," Sylinda commanded, readying what looked so much like a simple vaccine. Three guards came at her restraining her by pushing her against the bed. Sylinda wiped her arm with a simple alcohol wipe. Maybe if Riley got sick on the nurse that'd contaminate the needle which would make it useless. Riley tried struggling against her restraints again but the men held her firm. Riley's heart was either going to burst from her chest or she was going to lose her entire stomach in the next minute. She tried not to hyperventilate but her lungs weren't listening to her. While she was focusing on slowing down her breathing the woman jabbed her in the shoulder. Riley bit down on her lip to prevent from making a sound. She wanted to cry out in rage or sorrow about the injustice she was suffering. But the tiny logical part of her mind reminded her that she'd saved all those children and her friends. That made it all worth it. Then it was all gone.

Sylinda taped a small piece of gauze to her arm and left. The guards released her immediately.

"Put in a call to Malcolm Goode. Tell him he needs to get someone to collect his bosses daughter." William commanded before turning on heel and stalking out.

Riley tried to fight some more but all her energy was suddenly gone. But she refused to let herself fall asleep. She was going to protest however she could. Regardless of what this cure did to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

"Lexa where is Malcolm with my reports? I have to go to my five o'clock training session with the senior group of students soon." Nine inquired wearily.

Lexa tapped away on her tablet. Nine didn't know it but she was tracking Malcolm's phone. His phone was on the landing field so at least he and Taylor were back from their trip to retrieve something, more like someone. "What reports is he bringing me anyway?" Nine questioned.

"He is bringing you the reports on the rate of legacy development in first and second-year students," Lexa answered.

"He can't just email those to me?" Nine impatiently questioned.

"Malcolm said he had something very important to show you about the results. He was greatly concerned about something." Lexa added. She inwardly groaned. He wasn't going to last much longer before she had to admit the truth to him. Malcolm had left three and half hours ago and well Nine can only be screwed with for so long.

She saw his phone starting to move towards the academy grounds and let out a small sigh of relief.

"He's on his way, sir. Give him ten more minutes." Lexa told him.

He sighed and flopped on the couch.

At 1:10 p.m. Malcolm had gotten a call from a processing center in Tacoma Washington. He was to either come himself or send someone to collect Riley Lexa Worthington. Five minutes later Malcolm was asking her to cover for him. Five minutes after that he and Taylor Cook were airborne heading north to collect Riley. Malcolm had told her the whole situation over a secure phone line at three before heading back this way. Nine was gonna be beyond livid after he heard what had happened up in Washington. She didn't know if there was a word to describe how majorly ticked off he was going to be. But this wasn't going to be pretty no matter what they did.

She almost felt sorry for whatever commander issued the cure to Riley. He would die a slow painful death if Nine wasn't the head of the academy. Malcolm's phone was now on the green. He was probably five minutes out hopefully.

"Have you heard anything from the others?" He questioned.

Lexa was so startled she almost dropped her tablet.

"No Nine. No word from Cecilia, Casey, Riley, or Gia." Lexa answered, trying not to reveal how nervous that question made her.

"Why would Riley contact you?" He questioned.

Lexa bit her lip and saw Malcolm had made it into the main office building.

"Thank the elders." She mumbled.

"What?" Nine questioned. He raised an eyebrow like he was getting suspicious.

"Malcolm is here." Lexa sighed.

She took her usual seat on the couch and stared at the door expectantly. Nine looked at her with a questioning yet concerned look. Then it was opened and in came Taylor followed by Malcolm carrying a lanky teenage girl in a backward piggyback fashion. He held her like she was still a small child. Her mane of black inky hair was limp and pasted to her sweaty body. Her body was whiter than the reports Malcolm was supposed to be bringing. They couldn't see her face but Lexa heard the ragged breathing. "Taylor. I think she gonna." He never finished his statement for the girl vomited down his back.

"I'm so sorry Malcolm." Taylor apologized.

"It's okay Taylor. It's not the first time a child has thrown up on me." Malcolm reassured.

Nine just stared in disbelief, all the color draining out of his face. Then he took a deep breath and all that blood came rushing back to his face.

"What in the name of Lorien happened!" He demanded.

He rushed forward and retrieved his daughter from Malcolm's arms.

"Riley was captured during a raid on Olympia Regional Airport. All other targets escaped but she didn't. Because she refused to give up the others they did it." Malcolm slowly explained, avoid Nine's gaze.

"Please continue Malcolm, what is it?" Nine drawled.

"At 1:05 p.m. today Riley was cured." Malcolm closed his eyes, bracing for Nine to explode.

But he didn't yell, he didn't tear apart the room, he just readjusted Riley and grabbed his phone off his desk.

"Lexa, Malcolm, my cabin after dinner. Taylor brings the coffee." He instructed.

"But your class?" Lexa inquired.

"Malcolm I believe you can operate the obstacle course right?" Nine questioned, but his tone implied it wasn't a question.

"Yes, I can operate the obstacle course for your class," Malcolm answered.

"Need help cleaning her up?" Taylor offered.

"I think I can handle my daughter by myself." Nine impatiently answered. With that, he left them alone in his office. Malcolm stripped his shirt off and balled it up.

"I believe once he's taken care of his daughter he'll allow himself to explode." Malcolm simply answered.

"Absolutely." Lexa agreed.

"Is she going to be okay?" Taylor cautiously questioned.

Malcolm took a deep breath and sighed. "Time will tell Taylor. Time will tell."

Nine had cleaned his daughter and redressed her in fresh clothes she'd left there the previous summer. She was coherent enough to sit up on her bed as he combed her wet hair and braided it for her. But afterward, she flopped onto her back and let out a small whimper.

"Are you going to be sick again Ri?" He softly questioned. She shook her head and curled up on top of her sheets. He walked out and to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He returned and she sat up long enough to drink it before sinking back on top of her blankets.

He crawled onto her bed and pulled her up towards him and the pillows. She softly moaned in pain again and curled up tighter. He frowned at her. How could he help her? He remembered when she was little and he would sing to her for bedtime once a week instead of a story of the olden days.

"And she said what's the problem baby, what's the problem I don't know, well maybe I'm in love, think about it every time, I think about it, can't stop thinking about it. He softly sang, horribly off key. Riley seemed to relax a little. He continued to sing the song accidentally in love to her. By the end of the song, she wasn't so curled up anymore. But he still hadn't gotten his smile yet.

"Like a small boat, on the ocean, sending big waves into motion, like how a single word can make a heart open, I might only have one match, but I can make an explosion." He started. He went through the whole fight song but no change.

This must be serious, time to pull out the big guns.

"I get no kick from champagne, mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,"

she let out a small giggle before he could finish the first verse. Nonetheless, he pressed on, glad to see her smile.

"So tell me why it should be true, that I get a kick out of you. Some get a kick from cocaine, I'm sure that if I took it, I took even one sniff, it would bore me terrifically, too, yet I get a kick out of you." Riley was just giggling away with a grin on her face. He sang the last two verses and she was in a fit of giggles by the end.

"I knew that'd work. It's always the classics." He teased.

She smiled and snuggled into his side. She frowned and looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

"I'm sorry dad." She mumbled before resting her head against his chest.

"There is no reason for apologizing. You must need another song." Nine smiled.

Riley grinned and nestled into him like she would when she was little.

"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero til the end of the night, he's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight, I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero til the morning light, he's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life! I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero til the end of night," he sang regardless of how bad he was at it.

It always brought a smile to his daughters face. She let out a yawn and relaxed against him. But he saw her force her eyes open again.

"It's okay Ri, go to sleep. Your safe here with me. You deserve to rest." He reassured her.

She seemed ready to protest but her body was too spent to do anything but rest against him.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray, you'll never know dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away." Nine softly sung to her.

He just sat there as Riley fell asleep. He sighed and rested his head against the wall. What a complete disaster this all was. He already knew it was all downhill from here.

They'd arrived at his place around eight-thirty that night. Taylor started making the coffee in the kitchen.

"So what's the tiny sliver of good news?" Lexa asked Malcolm.

Malcolm was setting up on the kitchen island.

"Huh?" He questioned looking up. He pushed his glasses up so he could focus on her.

"You told us while you were doing the reports you were supposed to be doing this afternoon you discovered something that might help Riley." Lexa reminded.

"Oh, that," Malcolm replied. What concerned her was the deer in the headlights look he still had on his face.

"So what about legacy development in first and second-year students will help her? The cure is supposed to strip her of her legacies." Taylor questioned, completely lost.

"Exactly. It gets rid of her current legacies." Malcolm smirked.

"Alright, Bill Nye you've lost us," Lexa admitted casually.

"Look at this chart, early bloomers develop few legacies and over a longer period of time. Those right on schedule develop about four to five legacies over a year or so. But then the late bloomers develop as many as seven legacies within a year usually in rapid succession." Malcolm explained. "Then look at Riley, she's a late bloomer. She started the Wednesday after Labor Day last year. Telekinesis was first. Then she developed anima in the middle of November. The first week of December she got telepathy. Then the last Thursday of April she developed invisibility. Then only a few days later she showed signs of externa while at the refugee camp." Malcolm pointed to his chart.

"And your point?" Lexa inquired.

"Emotions play a vital part in developing legacies. Stress or anxiety can kind of force them to the surface. Telekinesis developed on her first day of eleventh grade. She was probably anxious." He circled that one with his finger. "Anima came in the week before she left with her class for D.C. also probably nervous or anxious." He circled that one next.

"Tournament week is the first week in December at her school. From what I understand it's the biggest event of the school year. Stress probably caused telepathy to surface." He circled it as well.

"Then the day she was captured her father knows she was nervous about being caught. Cue the invisibility. Then the day she's told she's part of a mission to rescue one of her best friends, externa rears its head. That's only five legacies. She's at least got one more in her that just hasn't manifested yet." Malcolm continued.

"But the cure will get rid of it won't it?" Taylor inquired.

"Her body's natural reaction is to fight back. All her legacies are fighting this thing. But that's her manifested ones. Not the ones she hasn't developed yet. So there might be hope." Malcolm spoke full of hope.

"Just don't tell Nine." Lexa frowned.

"Why? This is great news." Malcolm argued.

"You don't want to give him false hope. If it doesn't work." Taylor answered.

Malcolm sighed. "The probability of it working." Malcolm pressed.

"I don't care about that. Just promise me you won't tell him." Lexa argued. "Understood Lexa." Malcolm nodded.

"Alright, who wants to bet Nine is out cold with his daughter?" Taylor quipped.

"That's not even a question." Malcolm laughed.

"Let the man sleep, he deserves it. I'm pretty sure we can function without him." Lexa chuckled.

Malcolm smiled and set to his work. These overnight work sessions were private and frequent lately. The work they did here no one outside their group knew about and was most definitely not approved by the board or Earth Garde.

Nine came to only to realize someone was gently shaking his shoulder. "Nine?" Malcolm whispered.

Nine looked at Malcolm confused for a moment before he remembered. They were having a meeting tonight. Slowly Nine untangled himself from Riley and followed Malcolm out.

"Okay, ladies and gentleman I want the name, rank, and neck of the person responsible." Nine scowled.

Lexa already having done this while he was out, pulled it up on her laptop. "Commander William Clark Kennedy. Commander of Washington state. Any and all captives are handled by him personally. In the past three weeks, he's captured six different Human Garde. He likes to interrogate his captives and if they give him what he wants he sends them our way. If they resist, like your daughter, he gives them the cure." Lexa explained like she was trying to suck up to the teacher.

Taylor subtly chuckled at her attempt.

"Neck we can work on in the morning." Lexa finished before he could ask. Nine sat down on the island still stewing. Taylor placed a warm cup of tea in front of him before retreating. Nine rested his elbows on the island and buried his face in his hands. He ran them through his hair and looked up with a sigh.

"What do we know about the cure? I want to hear every detail possible that can help us with Riley currently."

"The cure makes someone severely ill, flu-like symptoms are stage one. Stage two is when the legacies will go haywire, then the final stage will be the most critical." Malcolm answered.

Nine went to open his mouth but Lexa cut him off.

"The last stage her fever could spike dangerously high, she will lose all legacies, severe dehydration, seizure, stroke, organ failure, and potential death." Lexa finished, solemnly.

"Well isn't that just peachy." Nine huffed.

"And all three stages will eventually all happen at the same time over the next week." Taylor finished.

"Nine." Lexa sighed.

"Lexa, Malcolm, do what you do best and try to find anything out about reversing this cure." Nine instructed.

"First we'd have to figure out how this cure works exactly. I only have theories I've shared with Lexa and emailed to Gia."

Lexa smacked him upside the head.

"That's why we hack into Earth Garde and find out how they made it."

"Haven't we tried to do that before?" Malcolm inquired.

"Shut up and let me work my magic. We will get in this time." Lexa huffed. Malcolm nodded.

"While I'm hacking you theorize about what we already know about it," Lexa replied.

Nine cracked a small grin at them. They were an interesting pair to work with.

"Taylor, can you go examine Riley for me? Make sure she's doing as fine as she can be?" Nine questioned.

"Of course. Thermometer in the bathroom?" Taylor inquired.

"As always." Nine nodded.

"After I'm done with her I am making you eat something. You gotta keep your strength up Nine." Taylor knowingly grinned.

She walked down the hall to do her task. Nine smiled at the thought that Taylor is only a few years younger than him and yet she carried herself with the authority of a superior, more like a caring mother. Nine nursed his tea and watched Lexa and Malcolm go to work.

The hacker and the scientist, the alien and the human working side by side in harmony, even if it doesn't seem it. Why couldn't everyone be that way?


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Riley had entered stage two around midnight, telekinesis flared up momentarily before she went still. Only for them to experience a psych scream so painful it caused them all to double over in pain from it. It was so intense and painful as if her legacies were crying out in agony. Like a vital piece of her was being ripped away. As if the only connection to her heritage was being severed.

The invisibility at three was quite possibly the least worrisome. Then the externa at four was interesting, to say the least. Then at five, she threw up more bile, Nine cleaned up all affected parties.

Shortly afterward her steady fever of one hundred spiked to one hundred and three.

By six Taylor had Riley hooked up to an IV to keep her hydrated. Nine got her to wake up long enough to eat a bite of toast and take some Tylenol before she fell back into her uneasy slumber. Her fever crested at seven with a whopping one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit.

They decided to take turns replacing the cold cloth on her. It was finally at eight o'clock her fever went down two degrees and they all finally crashed for good.

Nine was sleeping on the floor in Riley's room, Lexa had promptly face planted on a couch, Malcolm flopped onto the second one and Taylor curled up in an armchair.

Sadly there was incessant pounding on Nine's door around ten o'clock. Malcolm and Lexa bolted upright at the sound.

"Who?" They both started before acknowledging the same panicked look on each other's faces.

Taylor groaned and opened her eyes.

"One of you gonna get that?" Taylor questioned.

"Rise and shine Taylor and help me clean up the debris from last night." Malcolm requested.

"Why do I have to open the door?" Lexa questioned.

Taylor giggled. "I'll go wake boss man."

Malcolm scrambled to the island and started hiding their work in the cabinets of the island.

"Because if you open the door it'll fit right in with the rumors about you and Nine." Malcolm quietly answered.

"Mention that again I'll end you." Lexa threatened. She straightened her clothes and ran a hand through her hair before getting the door.

It was Susan on the other side. She raised an eyebrow at Lexa's disheveled appearance.

"Yes, Susan?" Lexa questioned.

"Did Nine forget that he has a board meeting this morning? We're all waiting for him outside his office." Susan questioned.

"We'll be there in a few minutes Susan," Lexa answered, trying to sound more cheery than she was.

She shut the door just as Nine was emerging from Riley's room. He swore. "Saturday morning board meeting ten o'clock." He groaned.

"I got the coffee." Taylor offered.

Nine sighed and walked down the hall to his room.

"I call dibs on the bathroom!" Lexa exclaimed, before grabbing a bag by the couch and racing Malcolm to the bathroom. She beat him there and he pounded on the door in protest.

"Come on Lexa!" Malcolm demanded.

Taylor rolled her eyes at the pair of them. Both were in their fifties and sixties and yet they could act like teenagers. Nine came out of his room pulling on a shirt as Malcolm went past him into the room he'd just exited. "Taylor? Can you stay with Riley please?" He questioned.

"Of course I will Nine. What's your schedule for the day?" Taylor inquired.

"Board meeting, home, training sessions all afternoon, dinner, training sessions, home for another fun-filled night of vomit and legacy flare-ups." Nine groggily listed.

Taylor sighed and handed him a travel mug full of caffeinated coffee.

"Don't punch any of the board members. Remember beating them up will not help." Taylor smiled.

"But it'll make me feel better." Nine quipped.

Taylor laughed. Even sleep deprived his sarcasm was still sharp as ever. Lexa came out of the bathroom brushing her hair.

"Come on Malcolm we don't got all day!" Lexa called.

Malcolm came out pulling his pants up.

"Maybe if you hadn't claimed the bathroom." Malcolm started.

"Come on children. Finish putting yourselves together and let's go." Nine chuckled.

Lexa tied her hair back and grabbed her tablet.

"Malcolm your fly's down." She smirked.

He glared at her and finished dressing. Nine just smiled and shook his head. It was going to be a long day.

Once they arrived at his office they all took their normal places.

"So what's the first order of business?" Nine inquired. He took another sip of his coffee to help wake him up.

"Rough night professor?" Linda questioned.

"Rough is an understatement." Nine grumbled into his coffee. The young man from Earth Garde cleared his throat.

"My superiors would like to make sure we're all on the same page. They sent over a script for the press conference tomorrow afternoon." He spoke calmly. He handed Nine a folder.

"What press conference?" Nine huffed.

"They want to make sure your on the same page as them before we get in front of the cameras tomorrow. You're going to have to make a statement to the press about giving your daughter the cure." Nine tensed and dropped the folder on the floor. Lexa and Malcolm already knew that there was a high chance the guy wasn't leaving this room alive. Nine strained not to choke the little puke.

"Excuse me?" He spat.

"My superiors want you to tell the press why you gave the cure to your daughter and how much better her life will be now." The scrawny man answered coldly.

"You want me to go in front of a bunch of cameras and sing the praises of the very reason my daughter is bedridden currently? The same reason I was up every hour on the hour last night because she was either sick again, checking her fever, getting her more water, giving her meds for the fever, replacing the cold cloths on her forehead, or her legacies trying to destroy the house? You really want to test me right now?" Nine hissed at the man.

"Sir, we need to keep a positive image around the cure. We need the public to believe in the good it can do." He placated.

"Tell your advisors to bite me. Next?" Nine snapped.

"My daughter still remains at large," Arnold replied, his voice carrying a sharp edge.

"Good for her, on the run is better than here with you." Nine drawled, his disdain made obviously. Father of the year didn't deserve to have a daughter after all the crap he'd done to her.

"Nine are you sure you don't need to talk about something?" Linda cautiously questioned.

"Linda, I most definitely don't need my head examined right now. I need sleep and a healthy daughter." Nine argued.

Susan just kept quiet and looked at him with pity.

"Susan I don't need your pity or condolences. I need the neck of commander William Clark Kennedy." He glared.

"He followed protocol much like you should."'Arnold corrected.

"Can it Arnie." Nine hissed through clenched teeth.

"Okay how about we dismiss for now. Meet again next week?" Linda offered.

"Of course." Lexa nodded.

Nine huffed and stormed out of the room. The other board members filed out after him. Malcolm yawned while Lexa sighed and buried her face in her hands. "This is going to be one long week isn't it?"

"Oh, it's going to last forever." Malcolm groaned.

Gia skimmed down through an email just sent to her from her grandfather.

"Guys! She's okay!" She called. Everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded around her.

"Riley arrived at the academy yesterday, after being interrogated they gave her the cure." Gia read. "Riley is hanging in there but the prospects aren't good."

Casey cursed. "I knew I shouldn't have let her out. She wasn't ready."

"It's not your fault Casey it was mine. If Emma and I hadn't sent that message then you guys wouldn't have come to our aid. Then Riley wouldn't have sacrificed herself so we could escape." Cecilia sighed.

"It was a noble sacrifice. Riley knows you guys are more important than she is. But I think she was banking on EG fearing her father more." Kat suggested.

"Glad to know it doesn't matter who you are they still treat you like a common criminal." Gia retorted.

"Gia Malarie!" Kat scolded.

"What? It's the truth! The girl was a waste of legacies anyway." Gia scoffed.

Kat threw her arms up in exasperation and walked away. Adelina got up and went after her.

"So what can we do about it?" Casey questioned.

"Leave her in the academy. She's safer with her father at arm's length." Cecilia answered.

"Really? We're not breaking her out?" Sidney demanded.

"Ceci has a point, Sidney. Riley is safest at the academy currently. Her father will definitely keep a close eye on his daughter." Casey admitted. "You can count on him to do that." Cecilia agreed.

"Right now we need to worry about keeping ourselves outta danger," Gia replied callously.

She shooed them all away and went back to searching the internet for news. It seemed every day had some form of breaking news anymore. What would today's be? she silently mused. All the headlines that popped up shared one similarity and floored her. "Professor Nine cured his daughter" "Head of the Human Garde Academy demonstrates the good of the cure" "Nine stunned the world by curing his daughter" Gia clicked on a headline and leaned forward to read.

"Listen to this guys!" Gia called.

The room fell silent after that.

"Yesterday at one in the afternoon a groundbreaking event occurred in an EG facility. Riley Lexa Worthington was finally apprehended and at her father's decree was cured by EG agents. It shocked the world to find out that Professor Nine cured his one and only daughter of her legacies. Does this really mean that the cure is a good thing for the growing population of Human Garde? If the head of the Human Garde academy was willing to use it on his daughter then it must be safe for everyone. Professor Nine will be making a public statement about this event tomorrow afternoon at three. If you or someone you know is a Human Garde remember to always report it to Earth Garde for their well being." Gia read.

She heard many scoffs and noises of disapproval.

"That is a load of crap and we all know this. Nine would never in a thousand years even contemplate taking anyway someone's legacies. Especially his own daughter." Cecilia scoffed.

"Why would they lie about it then?" Adelina softly asked.

"It's all about appearances. They need the world to believe and trust the cure in order for it to work. Who better to instill the much-needed faith than Nine?" Sidney answered.

"Nine's gotta be absolutely murderous about all of this," Kat added.

"I certainly am. What happened to the land of the free and home of the brave crap we learn in school? This is cruel and unusual punishment. That's a right given to every American citizen in the constitution. The right to no cruel and unusual punishment." Casey demanded. All his muscles were strained as he threw his hands up in aggravation.

"Thank you for that unnecessary history lesson." Gia drawled.

"Why don't you just knock off the attitude for five seconds?" Casey snapped, glaring at her.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't imagine a perfect world where everyone loves everyone and everything is fair and just. It's never going to happen. The sooner you accept that this is the world we live in you can move on with your life." Gia seethed.

"Why don't you have a little faith that maybe the system can be fixed?" Casey hissed.

"What's the point? What's the point in fixing something that can never truly repair all the damage it's done!" Gia exclaimed, eyes glistening.

"Some things just can't be fixed. They're permanently broken." She muttered.

She turned back to her computers and sighed.

"Casey, Earth Garde is an awful organization and we just have to live with it for now. Rome wasn't built in a day and they certainly won't go away overnight." Cecilia reasoned.

Casey sighed and slumped in his seat.

"Until we hear word from our allies in the academy we need to focus on our safety. We need to work on finding a way to unite the camp again. Scattered to the breezes we have no chance against them. We need to find a way to unite camp again. Not like we were but we need to regroup so we might stand a chance against Earth Garde." Cecilia suggested.

"How do a bunch of untrained teenagers with legacies stand a chance against scramblers and this cure? We're vastly outnumbered and outgunned." Kat argued.

"We will always be outnumbered. That's just a given fact but we are not outgunned. If anything Earth Garde and all their technology and medicine are outgunned. Now some ideas?" Cecilia inquired.

"We obviously can't use any human means of communication. EG is watching them like a hawk." Emma replied dejectedly.

"Human means," Adelina mumbled. "Henri, our gift from our father." She blurted.

"Which one?" Henri teased.

Adelina rolled her blue eyes at him went to get her bag. She dug in her bag and pulled out a leather cord with a blue stone on it.

"This one." She reminded him holding it up.

"Our mother and father have those," Kat remarked.

"Yes, all the remaining original Garde and a few allies got one of those years ago. Our father gave us these when we left for the refugee camp. If we held the loralite and imagine the central meeting chamber we'd be able to go home." Adelina explained.

"So you've had a way to go home for the past three years and you never said a word about it?" Kat raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"They were told to not say a word about it. All people who get them from John are under strict orders to not say a word about it. Think of it a trap door a select group of people have." Cecilia casually explained.

"And you know this how?" Casey impatiently inquired.

"When we left the mountains years ago John made sure he made a way so that we'd be able to get outta trouble at a moment's notice," Cecilia answered.

"Probably because my sister has a knack for getting into trouble with EG." Emma quipped.

Casey and Kat stifled a laugh.

"So since we can't really use the academy for help we could go to the mountains and ask for help," Adelina suggested.

"Adelina and Henri will go to mountains to seek assistance from our parents while we sit here and train." Kat decided.

"Is it just a one person thing?" Cecilia asked.

"Why?" Henri questioned cautiously.

"Take some of the younger ones to there. It'd be much safer." Emma suggested.

"You could take Sidney as well," Casey added.

"No way. You guys aren't shipping me to Timbuktu while my best friend is in the clutches of EG." Sidney firmly replied.

"Let her stay. Riley is her friend too." Kat argued.

"Well, then I think I could take two." Adelina shrugged. She took her necklace and weaved it between her fingers until the loralite laid in the center of her palm. Emma handed her the small girl in her arms.

"You'll be safe with them April." She reassured. Adelina held the girl in one arm.

"Can you take a second piggyback style?" Cecilia questioned.

"Yeah."

A girl about ten was hoisted up onto her back. Adelina stumbled but maintained her stance.

"I can take a third if I understand how this works properly." She held out the hand with the pendant in it.

"Rachel take her hand," Cecilia suggested. A girl about twelve with dove brown hair and dark eyes grabbed Adelina's free hand. Henri had the same amount except three boys. One on each hand and one on the back. Ten, eleven and thirteen maybe?

"Don't forget a crystal." Kat reminded, stuffing something in Adelina's right pocket.

"See ya at home Hen," Adelina smiled.

"Not I if I get there first." Henri grinned.

"You're on." Adelina dared.

"Last one there is an evil Mogadorian." Henri laughed.

Adelina closed her eyes and imagined home. The big stone cavern and the big lanterns lit every night by her father. The giant loralite stone in the center and the huge wooden table on top of it. The warmth of the hearth they sat around each night for dinner and to listen to their father's stories of the war. The laughter and endless chatter of her siblings. The soothing presence of her mother wherever she went. The Spanish lullabies her mother sang every night. Her chest tightened with sorrow. How she missed how simple life was with her family. But then she heard it, the crackle of the lanterns, the echoes of children, the faint static from the radio, the voices of her parents. Was she imaging them? She felt a cool breeze blow across her, carrying the smell of the mountains with it. She slowly opened her eyes to make sure she was dreaming. Surrounding her were high stone walls of the meeting chamber. The breeze was coming from the open doorway leading outside. She did a full inventory of her surroundings to make sure she wasn't crazy. The giant meeting table was where it had always been with all its chairs haphazardly scattered. It looked like someone had been practicing telekinesis in here recently. The distant sounds echoed in from another doorway behind her. Adelina still couldn't exactly believe it. She was back home in the mountains where she grew up. She smiled when her brother appeared and wore the same look in awe. They were finally home.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Malcolm hurried up to catch up with Lexa and Nine's long strides. They were speaking in hushed yet harsh tones to each other.

"This is bull crap." Nine muttered.

"I had nothing to do with this. I was just told to make sure you had it before the conference which may I remind you were going to be late for." Lexa pointed out.

"What's the major malfunction I missed?" Malcolm inquired. He'd just come from the lecture hall where he'd held his two o'clock lecture.

"I'm being scripted." Nine huffed.

"Probably because they don't have any faith in you saying the right thing. You made it clear in the meeting earlier that you are against the use of the cure. I think you requested the neck of whoever did it." Lexa exasperatedly explained.

Nine grumbled and pressed forward.

"Let's just smile for the cameras and strangle officials later? None of us like this but we can't risk our jobs." Lexa replied.

"Fine." Nine hissed.

"Taylor is with Riley as long as we need her to be." Lexa finished.

"Am I presentable to the public?" Nine sighed.

"As always." Lexa smiled.

"Excellent. Let's get this done and over with." Nine drawled.

Malcolm clapped him on the back and Lexa gave him a thumbs up.

"I hate politics." Nine grumbled as he headed towards the press and makeshift stage. But he plastered a huge smile on his face and threw the script away. He wasn't going to be scripted.

Adelina had the crystal flat on her palm so everyone could hear it. Her father had taken her and her twin brother back to the meeting chamber to talk. But back in another section of the mountain, her mother was humming a tune to herself while she cooked dinner. Sam sitting in an armchair reading something on his laptop. Ella had derailed all the children by saying she'd tell them the story about how she became one with Lorien for a time. It worked for all ages.

But Adelina wondered where Sarah and Autumn were because she hadn't seen them yet. Could that be why Six was outside? Or why the meeting chamber looked like someone had been haphazardly practicing telekinesis?

"So what's the issue, Cecilia?" John inquired.

"We need help reuniting camp, we can't all become one large group again. We need a way to communicate and unite without Earth Garde finding out. We need to be able to fight back before they wipe us out." Cecilia explained.

"We're certainly outnumbered but we can outgun them if we can get everyone trained and on the same page," Kat added.

John rubbed his chin. "The problem is we had the government on our side when we defeated the Mogadorians. Whereas now your fighting the same government." John mused.

"The red crystals can't be reproduced and they won't work in other hands. Ask Casey he's tried, the red crystal won't activate for him." Kat pointed out.

"And you don't know if every group has a telepath or if they can teleport or summon loralite crystals," John replied.

"And besides even if we use the loralite stones for teleporting, EG has almost all of them under lock and key. What if someone accidentally pops up there?" Kat argued.

"Down girl." Cecilia teased.

"It's fine Kat is just like her mother." John laughed.

"Wait what about using these?" Adelina suggested, taking off her necklace. "The loralite works for Sam right?"

"Yeah Sam used his to get him and his son here, Six brought her daughter here the same way," John answered.

"So then these work regardless of alien DNA." Adelina finished.

"She's got a point." Henri agreed.

"But none of the refugees have ever been here. Don't they have to imagine it to appear here?" Cecilia argued.

"Not necessarily," John mumbled.

"Come again?" Cecilia argued.

"In this cave is the oldest loralite stone we know of. It was here long before us and long before Lorien came to live on earth. Maybe we could use it as a homing beacon?" John suggested.

"Like it draws its user to the cave? That still brings up the issue of how are they gonna cross the Atlantic?" Cecilia argued.

"It could transport them just like ours do." Adelina optimistically replied. John frowned and toyed with his pendant.

"It could work but then we're back to how would they be able to imagine the cave?" John groaned.

"How about we come to a compromise, folks? What if they act like a homing beacon and transport the user to here because they're attracted to the original stone?" Henri inquired.

"John?" Cecilia inquired.

"I'll work on it. Nice talking to you again Ceci." John replied.

Adelina dropped the crystal onto the table.

"So who's been practicing telekinesis in here?" Adelina inquired.

"Sarah and Autumn," John answered.

"Awesome! How long?" Adelina questioned, about ready to burst from joy.

"A week. They both developed the same day." John smiled.

Adelina burst from her chair and threw herself at her father. She buried her head into his shoulder and squeezed him tight.

"This is wonderful news. I knew she had it in her." Adelina mumbled.

"Shouldn't you let your brother have a turn at hugging me?" John teased.

"Only if he can detach me." Adelina grinned. Laughter echoed off the walls of the cavern and warmed the whole mountain with love.

It was a long and exhausting week but finally Saturday night her fever broke. It started going slowly and gradually, finally settling at ninety-seven point nine degrees Fahrenheit. Her legacies fizzled out with her fever. Sunday morning was full of everyone out cold in various positions on various pieces of furniture. Nine was finally glad that it was over, all the side effects seemed to be ebbing away slowly. If only that was all that had ebbed away. How was he going to break it to Riley?

But she did wake up that afternoon and wanted something to eat. Nine nearly jumped out of his skin at such a simple request. He'd gotten used to the requests that she needed the puke bucket or help getting to the bathroom. He left the room and quietly made his way to the kitchen.

All his friends were sleeping in the living room. Malcolm was drooling away peacefully on a couch. One of his arms hung off and dangled, fingertips touching the floor. Lexa having deemed the other couch to short for her was sprawled out on the floor with a throw pillow and blanket. Taylor was snoring away on the other couch rather loudly. He never knew how loud Taylor snored until now. Out of all of them, she slept the hardest and Lexa was the lightest. He grabbed a slice of bread and a glass of water before going back to his daughter.

Riley sat up and graciously grabbed the slice of bread. He just sat on the end of her bed as she nibbled on it until it was gone. He handed her the glass of water and she took small sips until it was all gone.

"Thanks, dad." She smiled. Her voice still soft and weak.

"Do you need anything else? Do you feel alright? I can go wake Taylor if you want." Nine nervously questioned.

"Dad." Riley chuckled. "Relax, I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

Nine relaxed a little at his daughter's smile. He went to go back to his vigil on the floor when she rolled her eyes at him.

"Go sleep in your actual bed dad."

"Well your no fun." Nine smiled.

Riley giggled softly and tried to throw a pillow at him but she must've either been tired or weak because she barely managed to pick it up.

"Go back to sleep, my little troublemaker." Nine chuckled.

He quietly shut the door behind him and came face to face with Lexa. Her black hair was all messed up but her dark eyes held the intensity of a hawk. He placed a hand over his heart to steady the heart that just tried jumping up into his throat.

"What the crap Lexa?" He muttered.

"I heard you get up. Is she okay?" Lexa softly questioned.

"She's fine. Even kicked me out of her room." Nine chuckled. Lexa smiled in the dim hallway.

"Go get some sleep. We all deserve it." Lexa suggested.

"Geez have I been that cranky this week?" Nine teasingly inquired.

"Oh, you have no idea professor Nine." Lexa laughed.

She turned on heel and walked back to the living room. Nine chuckled and shook his head before going into his bedroom.

What a week it'd been. But now the storm had passed. Well at least this storm, there was a bigger one still building though. Without her legacies how will she handle the storm to come? He knows the refugee camp may be in many pieces now but they weren't going to take this lying down much longer. War was coming and this time he didn't know who'd win.

It'd been two weeks since the incident had passed and things were settling back to normal. But then, Nine walked into the gym only to have to avoid a battle zone of Riley and the computer. He decided to avoid it all and walked up and along the walls until he dropped down onto the observation deck. Malcolm was at the main frame of the gym's computer overseeing its operations.

Not even noticing Nine, Malcolm walked over to the railing and hollered at Riley.

"Level 25!" He then just observed her from the railing.

"How come every time I leave you with someone who has no legacies you fire up the six squad sim?" Nine teased, walking over to be next to Malcolm.

"Hey, it's a great way to train." Malcolm shrugged.

"Besides just like Cecilia she has a lot of pent-up rage. So I set it to the first setting and let the AI do its thing."

Nine chuckled. "The simulation is set to a scenario where you have to fight off hundred of EG agents right? Complete with scramblers and all of the fun stuff?"

"Lexa and you are just plain sadistic when you build new programs aren't you?" Malcolm inquired with a smirk.

"Not sadistic we prefer to be called realistic." Nine corrected.

Malcolm shook his head and laughed. He then readjusted his glasses and went back to watching Riley.

"She made it to level twenty-five? Without her legacies?" Nine questioned curiously.

"Nine, you've been training her to fight since she could walk. I remember her as a little three-year-old bumbling around here learning how to throw a punch. How every time she did punch you the effort made her fall over on her butt."

Nine smiled at the old memory and seemed to relax a bit.

"Remember when she was six and practicing roundabout kicks on the dummy? She landed wrong and broke her left ankle? Taylor healed it and told her to rest it for a few days?" Malcolm inquired.

"And the very next day she was right back at it with the dummy." Nine warmly answered.

"Admit Nine, no matter how many bumps, bruises, and broken bones she gets right back up and continues fighting. No matter how many times she's fallen over the years she gets right back up and fights. She's persistent in that way. This is just another setback. She's not letting it stop her though." Malcolm pointed out.

Nine smiled and watched her daughter take out the last of the simulation with her dagger and string of green crystals. She was getting really good at using that in combat. Even without legacies his inheritance still worked for her.

Lexa chalked it up to they can take her legacies but they can't take Lorien out of her. Taylor agreed that genetically speaking she's still part Loric. Riley cheered as the last of the agents fell. Malcolm went back to his computers and his jaw dropped.

"Two hours, twelve minutes and thirty-five seconds. She not only beat Cecilia's record of three hours, one minute and seven seconds but the six students that the program was made for. Their record was two hours, twenty-six minutes, and thirty seconds." He walked back over to the railing to tell her. "You just set a new record on the machine!"

Riley squealed with delight. "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" And then she started dancing, well it's probably considered a form of dancing somewhere.

Nine was leaning on the railing laughing.

"Was there ever any doubt that she was yours?" Malcolm teased.

"Nope, she's definitely mine." Nine beamed. Riley was still down in the gym doing her victory dance and whooping in delight.

Riley perched herself on a stool by the island as her father and his friends went to work. Nine was over by the coffee maker making the next batch of coffee. Taylor and Malcolm were both at the whiteboard looking very thoughtful.

"What if we temporarily assume that it acts like a virus? Viruses reprogram the host cell and make them reproduce it." Taylor suggested.

"If it acts like a virus then it has to run its course. Its course is a week but viruses don't usually do permanent damage do they?" Malcolm questioned. He started writing things on the board.

"Chickenpox can in extreme cases cause scarring, mono can cause damage to the nervous system, and there are multiple more examples but you get the point." Taylor pointed out.

Lexa smacked the counter and swore. "More info for our debate?" Malcolm inquired.

"No, whatever they did to make the cure is the most secretive of secrets apparently. Another server cracked and nothing in it at all." Lexa huffed in annoyance.

"How many servers could they possibly have? I thought Malcolm had a lot." Nine remarked. Malcolm shot him a glare.

"Only someone with something to hide would have so many servers. That way it's like searching for a needle in a haystack." Taylor reasoned.

"Like us." Malcolm quipped.

"So that means they also got something to hide then right?" Riley questioned.

She'd been quietly nursing her hot chocolate and observing them. Her inky black hair was loose around her shoulders and her bright blue eyes had the usual sparkle back in them.

"Do we even know how long they've been working on this? It had to take years." Malcolm sighed.

"I haven't found that yet," Lexa replied. She was back to typing away on her laptop.

"If they've hated human Garde as long as you say they have, they could've started this right after the academy opened," Riley commented.

"And we don't have all the time in the world to figure this out." Malcolm groaned.

"There's the positivity we all need." Riley drawled.

"Coffee. I think we need more coffee and to take some deep breaths." Nine suggested. Riley snorted into her cup. This was going to be another long night.

Sidney was being educated on a new card game called spoons. It was actually a much more violent game than she'd realized. Kat had already broken Casey's hand three times while going for a spoon. They'd broken two spoons and bent the third one. The spoons were made of plastic but still, was breaking them necessary?

Although Casey had also been the reason for five false alarms by making one of the spoons jerk. The term used was dirty cheater by Cecilia and filthy Mogadorian by Kat.

Gia was yet again refusing to play cards but preferred the company of her tech. Gia she'd decided was a very cranky and antisocial person. It only was getting worse since they hadn't gotten any word from their friends in the academy in a month and nothing from the twins in three weeks. But today she seemed to be looking at more articles from what Sidney could tell. She heard a spoon clatter and snatched up a spoon like everyone else besides Adelina.

"Dang it!" Adelina laughed. She threw her cards down and moved out of the circle they had formed on the formed.

"Ya gotta be quicker than that." Henri teased. He got smacked with a spoon by some invisible force.

Then they all heard Gia swear.

"No no no. This isn't happening. It isn't possible. I take every precaution, this can't be happening." Gia muttered, furiously typing away.

"Problem G?" Kat inquired.

"I hate the government!" Gia exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table. "We move now. I've been hacked." She closed her laptop and flipped it over. She yanked something from its underbelly and reopened her laptop. "You heard the lady let's move people! Any and all traces to be removed!" Casey commanded.

"What about the mattresses?" Sidney questioned.

"Sink em in the bay. It's about twenty feet from the entrance to this place." Kat suggested.

"Chase and Eden have at it. You seem to share legacies and a love for destruction." Cecilia offered.

Chase high fived the blonde girl next to him.

"Telekinesis?" He questioned.

"Like I showed you," Cecilia answered.

"Duh." The girl scoffed. Two mattresses floated up off the ground and into their uplifted arms.

"And charge!" Chase commanded. He and his little sister ran for the entrance with them. Cecilia laughed.

Kat tossed Gia a small blue pouch before packing. Gia opened the pouch and telekinetically herded the solar system into it. Casey had started packing Riley's stuff and his stuff up in a bag. Kat was by Adelina and Henri's remaining stuff and packing. Gia used her telekinesis to unplug the scanner and wrap it up in its cord. It was coming with for it was unaffected. But how would they all move undetected? Where would they go? Sanctuaries were few and far between for them.


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

Malcolm was busy saving everything onto his hidden server before heading for his chemistry class. But when he went to back it up onto the secondary server it gave him an error message. Server not found.

Impossible Gia always made sure her laptop could connect with him. He refreshed it and tried again. But again it flashed server not found.

He frowned and looked at the screen in confusion. He repeated the process a third time, third time's the charm he hoped. But still, the server not found message.

He sat back and wondered about why it couldn't be found. There could be various scenarios, either they were busted and it would only be hours before he got another call from Seattle to come collect his grandchildren. If they captured them then maybe it was only a matter of time before they found the backup server and trace it back to him. Or they were caught but escaped and Gia might have escaped with the files from his server. But a knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Come on professor, you don't want to be late." Riley teased, poking her head in.

He knew she was just in gym class, only one without legacies but still held her ground.

"Look who's talking Mrs tardy." Malcolm retorted, gathering his stuff.

"Only to Linda's class, can you blame me?" Riley inquired.

Malcolm laughed and followed her out. "You nurse a severe disdain for that woman don't you?"

"It's one thing to constantly be shrinking other people's heads, especially when they don't want you to. But now to treat me like I'm gonna snap at any given moment is a new low for that woman." Riley venomously spat. Malcolm chuckled.

"And didn't Susan get the memo? Getting legacies and running for my life meant I never had to worry about chemistry again." Riley groaned. Malcolm smiled.

"Don't worry Ri, the next chapter is all about electrons."

Riley rolled her bright blue eyes and laughed.

But Malcolm was still contemplating the lost server. He knew how to find out. Hopefully, it worked and it was just a technical malfunction.

She needed to beat Malcolm up for his encouraging comments. First of all the next chapter was about acids and bases, second of all she failed the test he'd just handed back, and thirdly she just all around hated chemistry.

But Malcolm seemed more distracted than usual. He gave up teaching after tripping over his terms five different times and gave them time to do their homework. It was pretty easy though, identifying which compound was an acid and which was a base.

That was how she'd spent the whole last half hour before now. Currently, she was dreading the following period, Dr. Linda's group therapy session. On her schedule, it was called being a positive force in the world. In reality, they put everyone they've captured in one room and have them talk about why they ran. It's all about making them feel safe and realizing the government doesn't mean to harm them. That this is actually helping them. 'For the betterment of society'.

Riley was the only one without legacies in there and it was degrading. The whole stupid period is with or without legacies. Sadly the period was over and everyone was leaving. With a wince, she cleaned up her stuff and loaded it into her backpack.

"Riley, can I have a word?" Malcolm questioned. She froze, his tone was cool and harsh. He has never done that to her. If they needed to talk they'd talk later in private. What was his deal?

Riley shouldered her backpack and approached his desk.

"So Riley what happened on this last test?" Malcolm inquired.

Students were slowly trickling out of the room.

"Malcolm you know I don't understand chemistry. It just doesn't come easily to me." Riley pleaded.

Then the last student left the room and Malcolm's whole demeanor changed.

"The door Riley," Malcolm whispered.

Riley walked over and closed the door.

"The blind and lock it," Malcolm added.

Riley gave him a questioning look before doing as he said.

"Lexa has already taken care of the surveillance cameras," Malcolm reassured.

"So this isn't about my chem test?" Riley questioned cautiously.

"Riley, I honestly know you lack in expertise in chemistry and offer to give you some tutoring when I come over for our late night meetings. But this has absolutely nothing to do with it. My backup server can't be found and I fear for your friends. Gia's laptop is my backup server and if it can't be found that means that something has possibly gone wrong with them." Malcolm sighed, burying his face in his hands.

"You want me to use my red crystal to try and contact them." Riley finished, dropping her backpack on the floor.

"If you could please. That way we know they're at least safe." Malcolm admitted. She knew he really meant so he knew they were safe but she didn't correct him.

"How long since you've been able to find the backup server?" Riley questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I last accessed it two days ago. It could've disappeared anywhere in between now and then." Malcolm shrugged, his face looked worn from age and worry.

"Got it. So you are going to make me late to Linda's class to get a status report from your granddaughters?" Riley smirked, blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"I figured you wouldn't mind." Malcolm chuckled.

Riley reached into her pocket and pulled out her red crystal. It gave off an unearthly glow as it recognized a Garde's presence.

"Six, come in Six," Riley called into the crystal. There was a tense silence as they await a response.

"Hera? You there?" Riley asked.

"Careful with those! They are a delicate object! A female voice barked. "Eden please release Lorien!"

"Sixty?" Riley inquired.

"This is umm… what's my code name?" A very familiar female voice questioned.

"The most wanted EG escapee new and improved." Casey drawled.

"Can I be ten?" Sidney questioned.

"No! Save that for her family." Kat argued.

"How about Artemis and then we can save this conversation for later?" Riley suggested, trying not to laugh.

"Artemis I like it. What can I do for ya Nine?" Sidney inquired.

"Bill Nye wants to know what happened to the goods Sixty is carrying," Riley answered.

"Bill Nye can relax, I have the hard drive safe and sound. It's just not in anything currently." Gia replied.

"Why did you remove it?" Malcolm inquired.

"We were hacked in Seattle. We are now in a new location that is undisclosed currently. I just still believe it was the _stupidest move ever_." Gia huffed.

"Which is why it's the safest," Cecilia argued.

"Alright children. Everyone safe?" Riley pressed, glad they couldn't see her grin.

"Physically safe. Casey is going to be learning the painful side effects of the healing stone in a few minutes." Kat answered.

"Do I dare ask why?" Riley chuckled.

"Cecilia was teaching Sidney some moves with her energy manipulation and Casey's big mouth got him in trouble," Kat explained.

"I was just pointing out that Cecilia is basically a dangerous laser beam and we don't need two of them!" Casey protested.

"So he was the target." Kat finished.

"I recommend giving him something to bite down on. It's gonna sting a little." Riley teased.

"Bite me, Athena," Casey called.

"Love you two Hera," Riley replied.

With that, she put the crystal back in her pocket. It'd sever the connection once she wasn't touching it.

"They seem to be safe wherever they are," Riley replied.

"But I didn't hear Adelina and Henri. Also, why would they be using the healing stone when one of the twins could heal him easily?" Malcolm pointed out.

Riley frowned at the thought. He made a good point about that.

"Want me to call them back?" Riley offered.

"No, do it later. You should go see Linda." Malcolm replied. He hastily scribbled her a late pass and she was off to the worst class ever. Maybe then she'd get to go privately spar with her father or even a dummy to take anger out on after suffering through Linda's class.

Riley entered the gym expecting to find her father, not a bunch of teenage boys screwing around. She forgot about his class with this month graduating students. They'd all turn eighteen this month and get to leave this place for whatever comes next. She went to leave but she felt a telekinetic tug on her shirt.

"Hey there. Your Nine's daughter right?" The biggest one inquired.

"Yeah, so?" Riley retorted.

She was used to stupid teenage boys, they are everywhere.

"Where's your Padre?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same," Riley replied, crossing her arms casually.

"She's quite the feisty little thing ain't she?" Another boy chuckled.

"Since you seem to be so tough why don't you show us some moves? I doubt any of us could beat the daughter of the great and powerful Nine." The main one taunted.

He was egging her on and she wasn't gonna let him win. Waste of her time really.

"I don't feel like sending all of you to the infirmary so I'll just leave," Riley told them casually.

"Not so fast little girl." He warned, eyes narrowing with anger.

Riley sensed another one behind her and jumped out of the way. He faceplanted right where she'd been standing.

"Now gentlemen you don't want to make my father angry." Riley cautioned. She planted her feet firmly and ready her body to have to fight these knuckleheads.

Nothing to worry about imagine they're just like the computer simulations. Except unlike the fake EG agents and simulated Mogadorians she fought these boys had something she didn't, legacies.

A boy charged at her from behind, she simply stepped aside to let him join his friend on the floor. One of the big guy's henchmen charged her head on. She grabbed his arm and flipped him. The left one made an attempt but she tripped him and he also faceplanted, too easy. The main guy now frowned as the group dispersed.

"Alright, playtime is over. Let's have some real fun now." He smirked.

That's when he disappeared from view. Of course, he has invisibility because the universe just happens to hate her. She got a hard jab in the side, how do you defend yourself from someone you can't see?

 _Use your other senses_. Echoed into her head except it wasn't one of her own thoughts.

She froze listening for his footsteps or breathing. Her skin tingled waiting to feel a sign that he was close. She felt a quick breath of air on her back. She quickly flipped to stand on her hands and kicked behind her. There was a grunt when she made contact with something.

"There you are." She mumbled.

She charged and started beating her invisible foe with everything she had. Suddenly her throat was squeezed by some invisible grip.

Her foe materialized and she saw it was his meaty hands that were slowly crushing her trachea. She tried to break away but she was losing strength. But nonetheless, she continued to squirm in his grasp. With a grunt of annoyance, he slammed her into the hardwood floor and resumed crushing her throat.

She reached out with everything, anything she had to fight back but there was nothing to help her. No allies, no legacies, no weapons. She started getting dizzy from lack of oxygen and her eyes grew heavy. She wasn't going to go down like this. There had to be something she could do. But she had run out of options.

Then she felt it, the sharpening of her senses, her whole body tensing, the crackle of energy in the air. It reminded her of the day at the airport before she was caught. Right before Cecilia goes nuclear and lays waste to everything. Her father has told her that Cecilia was too powerful for EG to contain or control. That's why they are fervently hunting for her so they can cure the biggest threat to them.

It was all just so unfair and cruel in the end. Why can't they just be left alone? Riley was brought out of her end of life thought process by the boy being propelled away by some invisible force. Actually, all ten boys were sprawled on the ground ten feet away. She flopped to the ground completely exhausted. She decided to focus on her breathing. Then her father and Malcolm walked in, just after the fun.

"What in the name of Lorien?" Nine demanded. He rushed over to her.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, blue eyes glistening with worry.

"I think. What just happened?" Riley mumbled.

Malcolm observed the scene with a victorious grin. "The false hope theory is no longer false."

Nine frowned at Riley before looking at his rather shaken class.

"Malcolm take her up into your lab for now. She seems very weak." Nine decided. Riley had to agree, she hadn't felt this weak since she got the cure. Malcolm helped her stand up and they hobbled up to his lab.


	7. Chapter 7

Riley sat on the island watching them again. Although this time she was slurping down a bowl of spaghetti for dinner. She was starving this evening for some reason that Malcolm explained with science. She frowned as her bowl was empty again. The blonde gentleman at the stove chuckled. "Either Malcolm is right or you're going through a growth spurt."

"Her body is craving energy after the episode earlier. If she is truly got a legacy past the cure then the possibilities are endless." Malcolm excitedly explained.

"Or she's a teenager who's just hungry." Taylor chuckled.

The man took her empty bowl and spooned more spaghetti onto it from the pot on the stove. He handed it back to her with a friendly smile.

"Thanks, John." Riley thanked before digging into her third bowl.

"Is the garlic bread ready yet?" Malcolm questioned.

"When the timer goes off it will be." John chuckled.

"So the voice in my head earlier," Riley started.

"Was me giving you advice on the current situation." John nodded. Riley shrugged and shoveled another fork full of spaghetti in her mouth.

"So she now has a legacy?" Lexa questioned.

"Has too, nothing else could explain what happened in the gym." Malcolm huffed.

"But the cure is permanent. She shouldn't be able to have a legacy." Taylor argued.

"But humans are fallible and this is a human-made cure. Maybe Riley's biology has found a way to undo it and this is the first crack." Malcolm pointed out.

"You said that Riley had a legacy still waiting to come out and if it did who knows what it could do?" Lexa inquired, eyebrow raised at her insane friend.

"Wait you knew this could happen and you didn't tell me?" Nine demanded.

"I was under orders to not tell you a word or I'd find photos from that one spring break plastered across the academy." Malcolm hung his head in shame.

"Spring break?" Taylor inquired with a grin.

"What are they of you drunk and naked doing some scandalous task?" Riley smirked.

"Well if it's the photo I'm thinking you got at least two outta three." John quipped.

"How do you know?" Malcolm exclaimed.

"Remember I'm best friends with your son. He tells me things." John casually shrugged.

"How'd he find out?" Malcolm demanded.

"Where do you think Gia got her tech skills from? It wasn't me." Lexa chuckled.

Malcolm buried his burning face in his wrinkly hands.

"Okay back to the topic at hand. Malcolm's already embarrassed enough." Taylor clapped her hands to get their attention.

"Could she even repeat it? Maybe it was just a residual fluke?" Taylor shrugged.

"It's been a little over a month since she got the cure, I highly doubt that was a residual fluke." Malcolm scoffed.

"Besides she doesn't have the energy manipulation legacy. At least not yet." Lexa added.

"Maybe we've been thinking about how the cure works all wrong. What if it's not a virus or any kind of disease. What if it goes deeper?" Taylor inquired. "Deeper how?" Malcolm inquired.

"It attacks the very source of legacies,"

"But no one has ever figured out where legacies come from. Believe me, I'm pretty sure if there was one Setrákus Ra would've found it a long time ago and used it against us." Nine firmly reminded.

"What about Phiri Dun-Ra? He found a way to give Mogadorians legacies. She was his prize out of all of them." Lexa inquired.

"Six and Marina remember her fondly." John nodded.

"But she has a point. He did find a way to give Mogadorians legacies." Nine admitted.

"But only because he ripped them out of groups of innocent human Garde. Another one of his awful experiments. None of which can help us right now." Lexa argued.

"Malcolm you were researching to see if legacies were genetic. Could that have something to do with it?" Riley asked.

"That'd be like getting rid of a physical feature. Like curing everyone with red hair to stop them from having naturally red hair. It's nearly impossible. They'd have to locate the specific gene or genes responsible for legacies." Malcolm scoffed.

"Energy manipulation though, blast radius of ten feet would have to be energy manipulation on a much smaller scale than usual." Malcolm walked back over to the board and erased their old evidence.

"Sidney's body has unusually high levels of ATP in it naturally but after say a training session with her energy manipulation legacies it drops significantly. Like after one of her nuclear episodes her ATP levels drop dangerously low." He thought aloud.

"Your point?" Lexa inquired.

"Patience." Malcolm scolded.

"Your DNA holds codes for the production of everything the body needs. Genetic diseases are caused by a malfunction in the DNA coding. This causes the body to for example not produce enough of a certain protein causing things like allergies and such. Riley is on her fourth bowl of pasta because her body is craving ATP and the carbs in that spaghetti are refueling her body because she used it all up. If the cure attacks the gene then it's not telling the body to produce certain proteins needed for the body to handle legacies. So her hiccup in the gym was a legacy that inadvertently burned up all her ATP hence why she was so weak was because her body had so little energy because ATP is the primary source of energy for the body which is why she's consuming so many carbs." Malcolm explained excitedly. He was madly scribbling on the board.

"That actually is the best theory yet. We may crack this yet." Taylor encouraged.

"Our first breakthrough!" Malcolm congratulated. Taylor held out her hand for a high five.

"Riley you are a genius. Thank you so much for reminding me of that." Malcolm thanked.

"Not a problem." She spoke with a mouth full of spaghetti.

"Swallow before you talk." Nine scolded.

"Chew then swallow," John added with a grin.

Nine rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Just in case she took you literally. She is yours." John replied.

"Now what is so important you had to come here? This is like the last place you should be right now." Nine questioned.

"You know I love to live on the edge Nine." John teased.

"I believe your wife and Malcolm's daughter in law have both scolded you for such a thing." Nine nodded.

"Well for one the academy still isn't equipped to handle invisible flying men. But I'm here to deliver something for Riley and Taylor." John explained, digging in his pocket for something. He pulled out two loralite pendants. "Part of the first batch, individually tested by yours truly."

"First batch of what?" Riley questioned, grabbing one of the pendants.

"Oh yeah, you haven't been told probably. Your cohorts are working on a way to reunite the refugee camp. This is a little back door they'll be given." John explained.

"These pendants will bring you to our cave. Directly to the meeting chamber. All you gotta do is imagine the Himalayas." John spoke casually and simply.

"Why doesn't my father or the others get one?" Riley inquired.

"Because they already got one way before any of you were a thought." John chuckled.

"Weeks before the academy opened even." Nine smiled.

"You staying the night?" Lexa inquired.

"Nah I gotta go south and make a delivery to Riley's cohorts. Besides, I gotta catch up with BK." John answered.

"Tell Casey I say hi. And tell Sidney I say hi too. Make sure Kat's keeping Casey in line for me." Riley told him.

John gave a hearty laugh. "Is this Casey more than a friend?" John wiggled an eyebrow.

"Get outta here." Riley scoffed.

"Ooh. Should I kiss him for you too?" John teased.

Nine laughed at his friend and his daughter's embarrassment.

"Don't you have a delivery to make?" Riley huffed.

"I see I'm not wanted anymore." John feigned hurt.

"Nice to see ya again Johnny. You gonna sleep with the refugees tonight?" Nine inquired.

"I might actually fly home after my final delivery and sleep through tomorrow. Don't want Marina to worry." John shrugged.

"You do know your not on EG's most wanted list right?" Riley quipped.

"But my children are so they could capture me and use me as bait to lure the twins outta hiding," John remarked.

"Excellent point. Also excellent spaghetti." Riley nodded encouragingly.

"Glad to hear it was good. You ate all of it. Every last noddle." John chuckled.

"Travel safe," Malcolm replied.

"All of you stay safe too. I hope you can crack the cure." John responded. "Oh yeah, we just gotta isolate one gene in the hundreds of millions of genes in the human DNA sequence." Malcolm drawled.

"Sounds like fun. See ya guys." John waved. Then John Smith left them for the night sky.

"I say tomorrow morning we see if Riley can recreate the legacy and study her chemistry to help us figure it out," Taylor suggested.

"Then we're gonna need a lot more pasta." Nine added.

She knew they were going to see if they could replicate what happened yesterday but she didn't expect it to be so early in the morning. But yet here she was in the gym at six a.m. with Malcolm, Lexa, Taylor, and her father. Malcolm had already taken blood samples from her. Not just one though, she wasn't that lucky, four different blood samples and then pricked her finger for a blood sugar test. Then Taylor took her temperature, blood pressure, breathing rate, reflexes, sight, and hearing. Just when she thought they were done with all their pre-trial run testing Malcolm secured dozens of little sensors to her body so they could monitor her vitals during the trial run. Heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, core temperature, and vital organ function. This was all before she and her father even started. Taylor made sure the small prick from his needles healed completely before now.

"So how did you do it before?" Nine questioned.

"As I said, I didn't do it intentionally. It just randomly happened. Like something finally clicked into place in me." Riley explained exasperatedly.

"What did you feel right before it happened?" Nine inquired, cracking his neck.

"I don't know how to describe it." Riley rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"Just try. For me. I know you can do this Ri. Lorien doesn't make mistakes." Nine encouraged. Riley could've sworn she heard Lexa comment on that but couldn't make out the words.

"It was like a piece of me was missing and then suddenly that missing piece slid into place and everything sharpened. All my senses became heightened at that moment. Then the air electrified just like it did at the airport. Right before Cecilia started wiping out whole rows of soldiers. And then it just happened. Next thing I knew all the boys were knocked back." Riley stared at the ground, frowning at her green and blue sneakers.

"Okay, that's a start. Can you try and summon that energy again?" Nine suggested, blue eyes full of worry and concern. Riley frowned at her hands.

"I'll try."

She closed her eyes and looked for that sensation again. The electrifying of the air, the crackle of air, anything to help her. Nothing. She had absolutely nothing.

"It's not there." She groaned in frustration. "Maybe it was just a fluke. I can't feel it currently." Her shoulders slumped as she stood there biting her lip.

"It's okay Ri, we'll get there. Just don't give up. I didn't raise a quitter." Nine encouraged.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"Done?" Lexa called down.

"Yep." Nine answered. He started strolling to the stairs.

"That's all? I got up this early for nothing?" Riley demanded.

Nine smiled at her, it was a mischievous grin that should've concerned her but it didn't occur to her to be concerned. That was until the dagger came flying at her. On instinct she held her hand to stop it, forgetting she no longer had telekinesis. She closed her eyes waiting for the searing pain of it meeting her hand, but it never came. She cracked one eye open to see the dagger floating a few feet away. She opened both eyes and stared at it in confusion. That's when it dropped to the ground with a clatter.

"Alright, Bill Nye what's the explanation for that?" Nine called up the stairs.

"One crack leads to more?" Malcolm questioned, voice quivering like he wasn't confident in his answer.

"Two different legacy flares in two days. This just keeps getting more and more interesting." Lexa commented, leaning against the railing with a casual grin.

"Telekinesis is today's choice of legacy, we can still work with that." Nine chuckled.

"Obviously whatever this is it responds to stress and force. So let's use those to our advantage." Malcolm called down.

"You have your ball Ri?" Nine inquired, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. Riley produced one green ball covered in bumps from her pocket.

"Let's start simple, produce the spikes." Nine suggested. Riley threw it up on the air and flicked her hand. It floated in midair, metal spikes sticking out of it. She cautiously moved her hand left and the ball went left. She slowly moved her hand right and the ball went right.

"Riley, are you feeling nervous?" Malcolm inquired.

"That is an understatement," Riley answered him.

"Just relax and focus on the ball." Nine gently advised.

Riley flexed her hand and threw it forward. The ball took off towards her father. Never pausing the motion her father sent it right back. She tried to stop it but it just kept coming. With a yelp, she dived to the side, out of its path.

"You okay Ri?" Nine questioned.

"I'm good." Riley shakily answered.

"Riley you gotta relax, all your vitals are spiking." Malcolm informed them. Riley frowned and rubbed her hands together.

"I can't do this! It feels so weird." Riley exclaimed.

"Riley, close your eyes and listen to my voice." Nine calmly suggested.

"Can we just stop?" Riley whined.

"Riley relax. You've been given a second chance, don't waste it." Nine explained.

"Nine, let her go. Riley do you want to take a break? Maybe get something to eat and drink before we continue?" Taylor suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that." Riley agreed, still shaking with worry.

"Come on Ri let's go see what we can steal from the mess hall this early in the morning," Taylor replied, putting an arm around Riley and walking her out.

"Well, I believe that went well." Malcolm sighed, sagging into his chair. Nine trudged up the stairs onto the deck with them.

"You just gotta give her time. She seems very unsure of herself currently." Lexa pointed out.

"Unsure of herself, that is not a trait commonly found in my daughter." Nine sighed.

"Don't worry Nine, let her take a breather. She will pull through this stronger than before. She just has to remember to relax and let her legacies function like a second nature. She's done it before and she can do it again." Lexa reassured.

"Remember Nine, your daughter is tenacious, she never stays down for long." Malcolm smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am so sorry about forgetting to upload last week. It was a very busy weekened last week and well the time got away from me. I hope you don't like kill me. To make up for my slip up I'm going to put up two parts tonight. Thanks for reading!**

Part 8

Malcolm groaned and leaned against his desk.

"I believe we have a whole lot of nothing on this board."

Lexa was sitting on a table, lips pursed as she studied their ever-growing list. Nine leaned against the same table Lexa was sitting on. He scowled at the board like it was the source of all evil. On the whiteboard was a list of all the legacy flukes that had transpired during training in the past two weeks. Energy manipulation, telekinesis, externa, invisibility, flying, zero gravity, shapeshifting, teleportation, emotional manipulation, and super strength. It was baffling the hiccups Riley had each day. Several ideas had been posed over the past two weeks but with more new info coming each day it was a hopeless endeavor.

"So all we got from this means she's definitely passed the normal limit on legacies," Lexa stated, gesturing to the board.

"But why is she displaying so many?" Malcolm huffed, crossing his arms.

"She's obviously a special case." Lexa shrugged, frowning at the board.

"Not even one Garde has every displayed ten different legacies. Not even mentioning Human Garde." Malcolm argued, giving her an annoyed look.

Nine's demeanor seemed to change and he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Impossible." He mumbled, blue eyes going wide. He approached the board and grabbed the marker. He circled telekinesis, externa, and invisibility.

"Nine, care to explain?" Lexa inquired, inky eyebrow raised.

"She isn't developing multiple legacies, but I know one Garde who would be on the floor laughing if I'm right." Nine started. "These three are legacies she had before she lost them." He started labeling the others with numbers or letters. "She's experienced my zero gravity and my super strength. Malcolm, you said Kat had shapeshifting as a legacy right? And a Xitharis Stone?" Nine questioned.

"Yes," Malcolm answered, completely lost.

"Casey has flight and emotional manipulation. Cecilia has energy manipulation. She's crossed paths with both of them. The teleportation I can't place but all the rest are legacies she's experienced. Malcolm, what do we call this?" Nine inquired, already knowing the answer. The beginnings of a smirk said it all.

"Umm. I'm honestly lost here." Malcolm admitted, making a helpless gesture with his weathered hands.

Lexa raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him. What was he getting at? "These are all legacies she's had or experienced. Why does that sound familiar?"

Malcolm suddenly bolted upright as if shocked. He went to his shelves and started looking for something. He pulled out a worn blue binder. He placed it on the table by Lexa and opened it.

"It'd be extremely rare but not impossible." He muttered, flipping through the pages. "Aha!" He exclaimed, pointing to the last page in his binder. "The ability to mimic legacies, the user would have to have experienced said legacy before being able to mimic it. She has Ximic." Malcolm read triumphantly.

"Ximic mimics," Lexa added, nodding in agreeance.

Malcolm approached the board and plucked the marker out of Nine's hand.

"She has none of these legacies but she has experienced all of them before. Therefore with Ximic, she can mimic as many as legacies as she wants." Malcolm explained, drawing a large circle around all of them.

"So she truly has only one legacy but its ability is so versatile it appears she has unlimited legacies," Lexa remarked.

"I swear Lorien picks her legacies to spite me." Nine chuckled.

Lexa smiled at that.

"So we have figured out what is going on with her legacies. Now we just have to get her to relax and have faith in herself. Her confidence needs to be restored." Malcolm decided.

"Lack of confidence is certainly an unusual trait of my daughter." Nine frowned.

"Yes we know she's like you, extremely prideful. The bigger they are the harder they fall. Just like you've suffered a major hit to your pride after the war, she's taken a huge hit. You lost an arm and she lost her legacies. Both are traumatic injuries." Lexa pointed out a knowing smirk lighting up her face.

"Technically losing your legacies isn't an injury," Malcolm remarked.

"Can it Bill Nye." Lexa shot him a look of annoyance.

"How'd you get over your arm?" Lexa questioned.

Nine shrugged. "I just learned to do thing differently. I adjusted to having one arm. And then the government gave me this prosthetic replacement. It took some adjusting but I figured it out."

"And got your butt kicked by the malevolent AI in the obstacle course repeatedly," Malcolm commented a knowing grin on his face. As if the memory was amusing to him.

Nine rolled his bright blue eyes. "The point is I learned my limits which was something I'd never had before. It was a learning experience for me. But I found a way to work with it. Such as I can only climb walls with my feet and right arm."

"Riley is at that point right now. Recovered from her traumatic injury but she is too scared and nervous to find a way to adjust." Malcolm reasoned.

"You mean too absolutely terrified and extremely nervous to adjust." Lexa corrected.

"Well, what do I do to help her? I hate seeing her like this." Nine demanded, ran a hand through his hair.

"Show up to training tomorrow with your disability. At least if I understand where Lexa is going." Malcolm suggested a worn yet kind look on his face.

"Correct. Guide her through this. Maybe she'll relax if you take each step with her." Lexa advised, nodding in agreement.

"But I know how to work the fake arm by now. I've had almost twenty years to practice with it." Nine argued.

Malcolm stifled a laugh at his partner in crime face. She gave Nine a mischievous grin. "Figure out how to function without it."

"You're kidding me right?" Nine inquired, eyelids dropping as if he was tempted to scowl at her.

"I believe she's completely serious. But maybe it'd work. You and Riley would both be learning how to do things in a different way together. That way she isn't taking this journey alone." Malcolm reasoned, unable to hide his grin.

"You're going to enjoy this aren't you?" Nine raised an eyebrow at Lexa.

"I have no clue what you're talking about professor," Lexa smirked, in a completely innocent tone.

"Do I get to monitor his vitals too?" Malcolm quipped, mischievously grinning.

"Why not? That way he's definitely taking each step with her." Lexa chuckled, snickering behind her hand.

"Guys." Nine smiled. What'd he just get himself into? For some reason, it concerned him more than Setrákus Ra ever did. Or Five for that matter.

"Placing bets on who will succeed in today's session." Lexa teased, clapping her hands together.

"My money is on Riley." Taylor chuckled, looking up from Riley's legs.

"Nah I say Nine's gonna figure this out. He's still got his legacies." Malcolm reasoned, pushing his glasses up before continuing his work on his monitor.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll keep that in mind in case I get to go against you next." Riley retorted, a playful smirk on her face.

Taylor chuckled and finished applying the last sensor. "You know the drill." Taylor nodded.

Riley did two jumping jacks followed by doing her best Hulk impression. "All sensors seem to be responding properly. Your good." Taylor spoke, looking at the screens.

"Oh, I just have to flex my muscles? Welcome to the gun show. This is Hammer." He flexed his right arm. And then he turned around and flexed the same one. "And this is Time." Nine spoke with such pride as he flexed his one good arm.

Lexa placed his other arm on the table and rolled her eyes at his gusto.

"All his sensors seem to be responding as well," Malcolm replied from the monitors.

"Alright, the pair of you in the gym." Lexa shoved Nine towards the stairs. Once both were down in the gym Lexa leaned against the railing to talk to them.

"Nine, catch." She tossed the green ball down to him. "The goal of this exercise is for Riley to get the ball from you by working on using her Ximic. Nine you have the full range of your legacies to keep the ball away from her." Lexa explained.

Riley stretched and cracked her knuckles. This was gonna be fun. "Full permission to beat up my father? I'm definitely in." She smirked.

"Remember Riley you need to relax and use your legacies to defeat him." Lexa reminded.

"Remind again why you weren't a Mentor Cêpan?" Malcolm teased, eyebrow raised with an amused curiosity.

"Because I hated the government and preferred the company of my computers. Besides if I was a Mentor Cêpan I wouldn't be here right now to help you knuckleheads." Lexa pointed out.

Taylor chuckled and observed her monitors with Riley's stats. Nine took the ball in one hand and sped off for the other end of the gym. Riley took a deep breath and snapped her hand. She willed it to turn invisible. But nothing happened.

Don't panic, focus Riley. You can do this. She thought.

She decided to scratch that thought for now and just run after her father. He seemed to be making laps around her at a rapid speed. She bit her lip, he was using Accelix. If this legacy of hers really is Ximic and she can copy legacies by experience or knowing how they work. She closed her eyes and remember that day so many years ago. That day in gym class when Casey was caught. He did the mile in two minutes. With determination to not be defeated by some mad science project, she opened her eyes. She stretched one leg and then the other.

Then she ran and imagined she was catching up to her father. That she was a blur as she ran. She suddenly realized the space between her and her father had significantly shortened. She was doing it. She was really doing it.

Then her father caught on and changed course. Riley couldn't stop fast enough and slammed full on into the concrete wall. Next thing she knew she was on the floor looking at the ceiling except the ceiling was spinning. She couldn't form a coherent thought but just lay there and groan.

"You okay Ri?" Nine asked, kneeling next to her. "Guys! I'm pretty sure she's hurt!" Nine called sounding worried.

Next thing Riley saw in her blurry vision was Taylor. Her touch was cool but it started dulling the pain. A warm feeling spread out from her hand into my body. Then they were sitting her up.

"Slowly now. She still seems a little out of it." Taylor cautioned. They both threw one of her arms around their shoulders and helped her up to the lab.

"All her vitals seem to be stabilizing now," Malcolm reported.

"Let's finish my work now," Taylor spoke placing a hand on Riley's forehead. The warm sensation came back and warmed her entire body.

"Well, that was successful?" Malcolm questioned. Riley looked around more alert after Taylor finished healing her.

"That was awesome!" Riley squealed with delight.

"There is no doubt that she's yours." Lexa chuckled, shaking her head.

"Thick skulled just like her father." Taylor chuckled, grinning at the gleeful child.

"Successful first run of your idea right Lexa?" Malcolm inquired, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Except for the full on collision with the wall, it was a success. Riley used her legacy without freezing up." Lexa nodded.

"I never said this was a perfect testing method." Malcolm chuckled, holding his hands up in a show of innocence.

Gia used her telekinesis to float another fry into the ketchup and then into her mouth. Casey chuckled and continued looking over her shoulder at her screen.

"It seems optimal for what we're going for," Cecilia commented casually.

"Beachside, kind of secluded, small unoccupied community, and it's still in the state of California. I'd say it works." Casey shrugged continuing to observe the floating french fries.

"But what has possessed the pair of you to move the whole camp to California? This is a big risk." Gia argued, harsh hazel eyes glaring at them. Her annoyance very clear.

"They're tearing apart the country looking for us. They aren't tearing apart California though. They'd least expect us to be right under their noses." Cecilia reasoned, holding just as harsh of a look. Her annoyance with the situation was also just as clear. Casey wanted to be anywhere but stuck with two females who were on the brink of killing each other.

"But you want to move the whole camp, three hundred Human Garde right under their noses? Isn't that pushing it a little?" Gia questioned, her uncertainty was clear but had highlights of anger in it.

Casey frowned. "She does have a point, Ceci." He flinched preparing to be reprimanded by Cecilia

"We'll develop safety measures for it then. Evacuation protocols for if we believe we've been made." Cecilia suggested, a sharp look directed at a regretful Casey.

"Still you're saying that after we get everyone on the same page in the same location we raid the academy and snatch Riley. Is it really wise to have the whole resistance in the same state as the target we plan on attacking? Once we strike the academy we're practically firing the first shot of the approaching war." Casey shot back. Regardless of his safety, the safety of the camp mattered more. Screw the consequences of getting on Cecilia's bad side. Wasn't a first and definitely wasn't the last time.

"The first shot has already been fired. When Earth Garde raided our home they fired the first shot. Eventually, we need to stop running away with our tails between our legs and fight back." Cecilia shot back. She tensed as she struggled to prevent herself from sparking out. Gia would never let her live it down if she fried the girl's equipment. Let alone that she'd never stop calling her a hypocrite for losing control of her legacies for she was always reprimanding Gia about losing control.

"Alright, you too. Argue about who started it later. Do I need to start hacking bank accounts and get the first house?" Gia questioned exasperatedly. Sick of listening to them.

"Down payment on a house. Untraceable." Cecilia ordered, voice stern and unquestioning.

Casey scoffed and stormed out, punching the wall on his way

"You sure? Maybe you and Casey should discuss this some more. He seems pretty pissed." Gia suggested. She knew it was never a good thing to have them at odds.

"Casey just needs to go cool off. He isn't upset about this decision. He's got his panties in a twist because of heartache." Cecilia huffed in annoyance. He seemed to be more and more against her. All because of love. Cecilia never knew what it was like to be in love like he was for she'd never been able to fall in love.

She sighed and looked back at the open doorway Casey stormed out of. "In a way, I understand his frustration. He loves her just like I love Emma."

"Ew! That's incest!" Gia exclaimed in disgust. Cecilia rolled her sapphire eyes at the teenager.

"He loves Riley like I love Emma. Emma is my little sister but she is my whole world. I wonder if that's how he truly feels about Riley." Cecilia explained to the young teen. But she was really trying to convince herself.

"But he's got more important things than being a lovesick puppy. He's a leader for Pete's sake." Gia scoffed, disdain dripping in her tone.

"Casey asked me if he could go with Riley to the Himalayas. Whenever we get her back he wants to go with her." Cecilia admitted, seeming to calm a little.

"I got work to do! Go smack some sense into that knucklehead!" Gia demanded. Cecilia sensed that was about as social Gia was going to be for now. Cecilia retreated from the room. She'd go see how everyone else was doing out on the beach.


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

"Then you add five water to balance out the oxygen." Malcolm instructed, pointing to the equation in the book.

"Why can't I just add five oxygen?" Riley argued, frowning at her work.

"Because that is not how this works." Malcolm calmly replied.

"This is stupid," Riley grumbled, adding water to the equation.

"This is not stupid this is chemistry." Malcolm smiled.

Riley groaned and face planted on her open chemistry book. Malcolm let out a hearty chuckle. Riley picked her head up and rested her chin on her book. One ink black eyebrow raised curiously.

"I thought you said we had no homework tonight?" Riley inquired as if she was contemplating something. Malcolm smiled and sighed. "Can't get anything past you can I?" He chuckled.

She bolted upright. "Then why am I doing this!" Riley demanded, slamming her hands on the table.

He would've believed she was mad except for the large grin on her face. Never looking away from him she waved her hand and the chemistry book shut.

"That was a dirty trick, Bill Nye." She chuckled.

Malcolm smiled at her partially for his scheme to make her do more chemistry problems but more because of her energy. With the renewal of a legacy and her small but significant progress, she was becoming more like the Riley they know. That spark inside her had reignited, he could see it in her eyes as they argued over chemistry. He could see it when she was sparring with her father down in the gym. The intensity she brought but the craftiness she's exhibited since she was a little girl. The sparkle in her bright blue eyes was proof that she was resilient. But it would be optimal to have someone who actually understands how Ximic works to train her. But that wasn't possible there was only one person who could and it was out of the question.

"Malcolm?" Riley inquired.

She floated something red in front of his face. He refocused on what she wanted. She was floating her red crystal in front of his face. He knew what she was asking and he chuckled. "Yes, Riley."

"Awesome!" She squealed with delight.

Malcolm shook his head and got up to clean up the debris from their chemistry debate. Riley climbed up onto the table to sit there for her call. "How much longer do we have to be here?" Riley questioned.

"I'll ask Lexa how Nine and Arnold are doing on their preparations for the games," Malcolm answered, filing away his supplies.

"If their still busy can we play the legacy game? It's technically training." Riley suggested.

Malcolm smiled at her again. "Sure."

"Okay, I'm calling them now," Riley spoke, snatching the crystal out of the air. She had been practicing her telekinesis with it. The crystal lighting up at her touch.

"Come in Hera," Riley called into the crystal.

"Amelia I swear." She heard Gia threaten.

"I didn't touch it!" Amelia whined.

"Well someone obviously did so who took it! You do not even know how important that is." Gia demanded.

"Yo Sixty! Take a mega chill pill." Riley hollered into the crystal.

"Go away Nine we don't need you." Gia hissed.

"Gia Malarie!" Malcolm snapped.

"What do you want grandfather?" Gia drawled.

"You forget to take your happy pills?" Riley quipped.

"Riley," Malcolm warned.

"Where are the others?" He questioned.

"Busy unpacking. I have this imbecile helping me." There was a pause before they heard her yell. "Find that blasted thing or I'm throwing you into the ocean with the sharks! I know I packed it!"

"Hey, Gia?" Chase cautiously asked.

"What?" Gia snapped at the poor boy.

"Is this the hard drive your missing?" He questioned.

"Where was it?" Gia demanded.

"In my sister's stuff," Chase answered.

"Why?" Gia huffed.

"Gia, focus. Where's Casey?" Riley pressed.

"Chase give this to my sister and then get me yours," Gia ordered.

Suddenly the connection was severed.

"Well, that's weird." Riley chuckled.

"Gia seems in rare form today," Malcolm commented.

"She is always in rare form." Riley huffed.

"You must bring out the worst in her." Malcolm smiled.

"Get your catalog of legacies out." Riley teased.

"What is the ability to fade out of human vision?" Malcolm questioned, reaching for the giant binder.

"Invisibility. What's the ability to defy gravity?" Riley questioned.

"Liberum. Zero gravity." Malcolm answered. "Legacy cancellation?"

"Pfft. That's easy. Dreyen." Riley scoffed. "The ability to become weightless and soar through the air."

"Avex, flight. Quite the useful legacy." Casey replied through the crystal. Riley hadn't noticed the crystal light back up.

"Hey, Hera." Riley smiled.

"Hi, Athena. How's the training going?" Casey questioned.

"Let's see today's accomplishments included me breaking my father's arm, nose, and several ribs," Riley replied.

"Geez, what'd you do to him?" Casey laughed.

"I believe the legacy of choice this morning was externa," Malcolm answered.

"Ouch. Healer on standby?" Casey questioned.

"Of course. Taylor fixed him right up." Riley teasingly huffed. "What's with the relocation? Gia seemed pretty bent outta shape."

"Gia just needs to suck it up. Gia's mad that Cecilia is ordering her around like her little hacker monkey. And Gia thinks Cecilia is an idiot but what's new." Casey sighed.

"Why the relocation?" Riley questioned again.

"Because we've found a nice place to regroup. Which leads me to the question Cecilia had for you guys. More of a favor though." Casey started, she could sense a meekness in his tone. Like he wanted to wash his hands of the whole situation. Wonder what was occurring amongst them to cause that.

"What Casey?" Malcolm questioned, bringing Riley out of her thoughts.

"We know a hundred Human Garde were captured when the camp was raided. Can you get your benevolent hacker to find out how many more if any were captured after that? Or any leads on the location of others?" Casey answered.

"I'll ask her about it later." Malcolm nodded

"I thought John and Ella were working on locating?" Riley inquired.

"But we have no way of communicating with the Himalayas. Adelina and Henri came back with their father when he made his first batch of deliveries." Casey huffed.

"The ability to speak with one mind," Riley mumbled.

"Telepathy. You had it so you shouldn't have much difficulty replicating it. It's just the sending it across the Pacific Ocean." Malcolm quietly answered.

"What are you two mumbling about?" Casey questioned.

"Nothing sweetie," Riley replied.

"Malcolm make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Casey sighed.

"Got it." Malcolm chuckled.

"Now can I have a moment alone with Riley?" Casey questioned.

"Don't let me get in the way of young love." Malcolm held up his hands in surrender and slipped out of his lab.

"So how's the master plan coming along?" Riley inquired.

"Not fast enough. I miss you." Casey sighed.

"I miss you too Hera but don't do anything stupid," Riley replied. "What's the ETA on the plan?"

"Gia estimated it'll take her ten months minimum to get all the pieces of our new base together. Then after that, it could still take a few months for us to get all our ducks in a row before we enact this plan." Casey groaned.

"So I'm stuck here for a year minimum." Riley chuckled.

"Speaking of the academy how is it? Run into any cement walls lately?" Casey quipped.

"Bite me Hera. As a matter of fact, I haven't. I've annihilated my illustrious father with externa." Riley informed him.

"Wow, she's been paying attention in English." Casey sarcastically clapped.

"Tomorrow they're having a special activity tomorrow in conjunction with the EG peacekeepers," Riley added.

"Students get an opportunity to cream the guards?" Casey chuckled.

"Students with legacies. Besides, it's a chance for students to be creamed by the guards." Riley scoffed.

"What? They won't let you at em?" Casey huffed.

"Don't worry tomorrow we're going to practice discretion during the games." Riley giggled.

"Discretion?" Casey inquired.

"Like if Arnold's shoes ended up tied together in which case he'll trip. I know nothing about it." Riley grinned.

"You're diabolical." Casey laughed.

"And you know it," Riley answered.

"So you bored?" Casey asked.

"You got nothing to do?" Riley shot back.

"My afternoon is open," Casey answered.

"Same here." Riley smiled.

"Well then bring it, Athena." Casey challenged.

"You're on Hera. Pick your poison." Riley retorted.

"Percy Jackson trivia. Who is the last Olympian?" Casey inquired.

Riley flopped onto the table and held the crystal up to keep the conversation going.

"Hestia. Who is the worst father in the history of the cosmos?" Riley inquired. She settled into another one of their games. There would be a lot more trivia games to come.

Riley read down through the list of names in the file marked Book of LANEs.

"Agatha Warner?" Lexa questioned.

"Not captured yet according to this," Riley answered.

"She and a boy named Frank went down in a shopping center down in New Mexico last week. Cured." Lexa announced.

Riley edited the file. "Take another two off our grand total." Riley requested.

Taylor went to the board and adjusted the grand total written on it. "Man, how many refugees were just not ready to be out in the world?" She muttered.

"Lots." Riley sighed.

Malcolm came in balancing takeout containers in his arms. "Fresh from the cafeteria, Chinese is the entree," Malcolm told them, unloading his arms onto the back counter.

"I call dibs on the fried rice!" Riley declared. Lexa huffed.

"Don't worry my partner in crime. I got you your own bucket of fried rice." Malcolm smirked. It was nice to bicker over the simple things every once in a while.

"Take another nine away from the total. Two weeks ago a group of children was found sleeping in an abandoned barn in Kentucky. Your names are Herod Robert, Dave Thomas, Peace Cormag, Silvija Gwynn, Maverick Kidd, Serafeim Crotí, Barclay Blackman, Basilio Burrell, and Linnaea Arcadia. All cured." Lexa read off her screen.

"Earth Garde isn't screwing around are they?" Taylor huffed.

"Their day is coming. It's just going to be a long time coming." Riley sighed.

"That just makes the need for a cure to be found even more pressing. All those teens just stripped of a vital piece of themselves." Malcolm muttered.

Riley groaned and stretched her hands behind her head. "Where is my father? He's been talking to Arnold since lunch."

"And everyone's favorite local EG rep Albert." Malcolm reminded, setting up for dinner.

Riley wrinkled her nose in disdain. "Filthy weasel. I didn't think anyone could be more brainwashed by the enemy than Five."

Malcolm snorted, Lexa rolled her dark eyes and Taylor just looked lost.

"Group of four a month ago in Missouri. Killed on contact. Terence Bandomi, Malandra Chavez, Heru Rodriguez, Alysia Acosta." Lexa announced.

"Another shootout?" Riley questioned, her shock easily detected.

"Yep." Lexa deadpanned, staring at her computer with a blank face.

"Ouch," Malcolm commented, flinching.

"Two more down in Florida three days ago, Olivia and Oliver Renga. Cured." Lexa spoke.

"There goes any chances of telling Casey good news on this front," Riley mumbled.

They all jumped as the front door was thrown open only to be slammed shut a few seconds later. Nine came storming into the kitchen.

"Woah there, tiger. What happened?" Riley looked up from the laptop to frown at him.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate Arnold and EG?" Nine exclaimed, pacing like a caged animal.

"Repeatedly." Malcolm quipped.

"Probably more times than Malcolm has years," Taylor commented.

Riley stifled a laugh.

"What did our esteemed coworkers do this time? How are they screwing up this month's games?" Lexa drawled.

"EG wants to test out their latest weapon tomorrow. A cure gun. Basically like a tranquilizer gun. I will not put my students at risk for that. It's bad enough their stuck here they don't need to risk being cured. It's like this is all just a game to these bureaucrats!" Nine huffed, throwing his hands in the air.

"They can't do that can they?" Riley inquired.

"They can do whatever they damn well, please. If they actually go through with it I'm canceling the games. I will not let them do this." Nine demanded.

"Would students know this?" Taylor questioned, concern clearly etched on her face.

"No that's the whole point. The students wouldn't know until it was too late." Nine snapped. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned. "I've had it with this whole thing." He then looked up at them and their debris.

"What we doing?" Nine questioned curiously.

"Getting an estimated headcount for the camp. At the rate we're going it isn't looking too good." Riley answered, looking up from her station.

Nine looked a little confused for a moment.

"Okay. I'll be back in a little bit." Nine spoke before heading for his bedroom. There was a small chuckled before they went back to work.

"Tyron Gusto, Maine."

"Now I have some really depressing news for you. Are you sitting down?" Riley inquired. She was sitting in Lexa's cabin toying with her crystal. They were in Lexa's office. Her off the books office full of cubbyholes to stash all her work.

"I am sitting down. Lay it on me." Casey replied casually.

"Out of a whopping 312 since the original raid, there are approximately 238 left. Majority cured and about maybe twenty killed." Riley informed him.

"Ouch." Casey meekly replied.

"Yeah, it isn't a happy number." Riley sighed.

"I thought you said tonight? Shouldn't you be busy this afternoon with the games you were telling me about?" Casey inquired.

"The games were canceled due to safety concerns for the students. In other words, my father, Arnold, and EG couldn't agree on the weaponry for this month." Riley simply answered.

"That's a comforting thought. You okay?" Casey sounded concerned.

"Relax Hera. I'm fine. I'm with hacker extraordinaire." Riley reassured.

"Just remember if anything fishy happens you have an escape route. Save Cecilia a trip to the Himalayas even." Casey reminded.

"Relax. I'm safe and sound right here. Believe me, my father has been making sure not a hair on my head is harmed." Riley argued.

"Alright lovebirds. I got pretty boy a lead." Lexa drawled.

"Pretty boy? I take offense to that nickname." Casey huffed.

"Listen to your lead." Riley scolded.

"EG failed to capture a group in Johnson City, New York. There was a short chase heading south before they lost em in the suburbs of Rosemary Heights." Lexa read. Riley perked up at the mention of her old town.

"Any names?" Casey questioned.

"Two identified targets are Cade Travis and Hope Warner." Riley heard Casey swear on the other end.

"I'll see you later Riley. Cecilia is going to want to move on this now. She knows the area like the back of her hand." Casey quickly replied before severing the connection.

"Why'd that make him sound so nervous and worried?" Riley thought out loud.

"Warner is Cecilia's true last name. Charlotte Warner is Cecilia Smith. Maybe the girl is a relative is hers. Your friend Cecilia didn't grow up too far from where you lived. She lived a little less than an hour south of you in Hayesville." Lexa bluntly answered her.

"Now you ready for your first lesson?" Lexa inquired, a black eyebrow raised at Riley.

"Got nothing better to do." Riley chuckled.

"Alright let's get to work then. Step one. Blocking your IP address." Lexa instructed.

Riley settled into the monitor next to Lexa and stretched. At least she was going to make use of the time she had here. They had a lot of time to waste before the real fun began. War was coming and it wasn't going to be pretty.


	10. Chapter 10

Epilogue: The first lead

"So where are we going tour guide?" Casey drawled, frowning at the map.

Cecilia's bright blue eyes held a fierce look of determination as she poured over the map. They were sitting in a Dunkin Donuts in Lakelyn, Pa. it was seven a.m. in the dinky little town they'd come to. Casey knew that less than an hour north was his home and his mother. They were sitting at a corner table in the back nursing their coffees and planning their next move. He picked at his coffee muffin waiting for Cecilia to come back to planet earth.

"She wasn't at the old library, she wasn't by the lake, so she's certainly in her home territory." Cecilia mused.

"Meaning?" Casey inquired, eyebrow raised.

Cecilia pulled out a different map from her bag and spread it out.

"Meaning she's gone home for lack of a better word. I say we check the hunting cabin next. Our father only uses it for the months of November and part of December. We're at the beginning of June so it's a good shot." Cecilia explained.

She double checked her Yankees baseball cap was still in place and slid her sunglasses back on.

"Let's move Ross." She decided, cleaning up her debris. Casey secured his Yankees baseball cap on and followed her out.

Casey gripped sides of his seat as the truck rocked back and forth on its journey up a worn path. The mad woman driving was Cecilia who he completely trusted but he wasn't sure this was a drivable road they were on.

Actually, he wasn't sure it was even a road for that fact. The road peaked at a clearing in the woods, tall grass, and big rocks. She slammed on the brakes so hard he braced himself so he didn't go through the windshield.

"Time to get out pretty boy. We got a lot more ground to cover by foot." Cecilia mischievously grinned.

"Oh, now you decided to stop driving? I'm pretty sure the road ended twenty minutes ago." Casey quipped.

"Oh come on. It's just an old logging path. Hasn't been used as long as I've been gone probably." Cecilia shrugged.

Casey laughed and climbed out. "Ya know we could always fly up." He wiggled his black eyebrows at her.

"We need to keep a low profile so no legacies," Cecilia smirked.

Casey let out a low moan and grabbed his pack from the back of the truck.

"Think of this as an adventure Casey. This is my old stomping grounds and Hope's home territory." Cecilia teased, grabbing her pack out of the back.

"Emma is too young to remember isn't she?" Casey inquired.

"Emma was barely three when we left." Cecilia sighed. Her blue eyes seemed to darken as her face took on a worn look.

"So who says they'd be at this hunting cabin?" Casey inquired.

"Before we start anything put this around your ankles." Cecilia tossed him a small bottle.

"Tea tree oil?" He questioned, a little confused why he needed to smell like a candle.

"It's a great tick deterrent," Cecilia answered, tying her dark brown hair back. Casey followed his instructions and tossed the bottle back at her.

"You have all your stuff?" Cecilia questioned.

"Yes, ma'am." Casey mock saluted.

"Come on. We still got a lot of ground to cover." Cecilia replied, heading up an overgrown path. "What's so special about this cabin?" Casey inquired, catching up with her long strides.

"The cabin is so secluded and nestled in the woods only my family would be able to find it," Cecilia answered.

"How do you know she'd be in this area?" Casey questioned.

"Because she is a brilliant little girl. This is her home territory and knows it like the back of her hand. Even if EG got whiff of them she could give them a run for their money because they don't know the area. The closest EG centers are Hancock and Millfield. Both are half an hour away." Cecilia explained.

"But what if they're in a group? Same logic apply?" Casey asked.

"Let's worry about finding them first." Cecilia huffed, marching forward. Casey sighed and followed her through the woods.

He underestimated how far Cecilia was taking him into the woods. The sun was high in the sky now and they were still hiking uphill to some cabin. They passed a tree with four green ribbons tied to it. Followed shortly by a sign saying 'all trespassers will be shot on sight ' nailed to a giant oak tree. Cecilia seemed to smile at there markers and pick up the pace.

"We're almost there," Cecilia told him.

He snorted as they passed a sign saying 'beware rabid dogs'. Cecilia held up a hand and climbed up the next hill. She flattened herself to the ground as she peaked over to crest. She already knew the small clearing would have a worn looking log cabin nestled in the middle but what she saw almost caused her to lose her balance. All sorts of ATVs and people were milling about. She squinted to make out any details and froze in place.

They all wore the EG emblem on their uniforms. EG officials had found the cabin.

She silently slipped back down to Casey.

"The cabin has been compromised." She whispered to Casey.

She led him down the hill and through the woods. They weren't returning the way they came but heading deeper into the woods Casey noted. After what seemed like forever Cecilia stopped. She sat down on a large outcropping of rock along a small crick.

"If the cabins been compromised she would've headed deeper into the woods then. We should head uphill, follow the crick up to Old House road. She would've headed northeast towards Lakewood." Cecilia explained.

"Why Lakewood? Another cabin there?" Casey quipped. Cecilia shot him an icy glare.

"Lake's abandoned farm. In the middle of absolutely nowhere with three barns in various states of decay, and a huge farmhouse. It's only half a days walk from here. Probably reach it by dusk if we get moving." Cecilia spoke, getting up and heading uphill. Casey sighed and trudged uphill after her. He never wanted to know this much about the area south of his home.

After a long time walking country roads, Casey finally saw what Cecilia was talking about. There were three big abandoned barns and a large farmhouse. There were a couple of deer drinking by the pond in the field below. An old sickly tree hung by the farmhouse full of crows. As they approached the farmhouse the crows took flight. They heard noise from the farmhouse.

"I'd say they're in the farmhouse," Casey remarked. Cecilia took off leaping over the deteriorating fence and up the overgrown driveway. Casey followed her onto the rotting porch and through the creaky front door. They entered a hallway with cracked stone flooring and chipping white paint.

Casey followed Cecilia through a decrepit living room with its threadbare furniture and a dated kitchen covered in dust. Another noise pierced the air except now it could be identified as a scream in agony.

They proceeded onto a landing with the railing in pieces and a rotting stairwell. Down in the living room though we're a group of teenagers. But the screams came from further down the walkway, echoing from another room. Cecilia turned and followed the screams.

They entered a bedroom with peeling wallpaper and faded carpet. On the floor were a few more teenagers. One girl looked like a younger version of Cecilia, she knelt on the floor next to another teenage girl. This one seemed older than the other girl but it was hard to tell with her features so strained. Her tanned skin and dark hair were slick with sweat. She was laying with her legs spread apart. She was propped up by what looked like worn pillows. Another younger girl was on her other side holding her hand. A fourth girl with a black braid sat in front of her where the girl's legs were spread apart.

"Come on Sienna! Give me another big push!" The black haired girl encouraged.

The Indian girl let out another scream. Casey's brain finally registered people. The girl screaming was Sienna Chenoa. She came to them pregnant eight months ago. The girl on her right was Hope, the girl on her left was Cynthia and the girl helping her deliver was Violet.

"I see the head! Push!" Violet commanded.

Casey looked at Cecilia who was watching intently. He didn't know if he should leave them alone because this was a female thing but his feet stayed planted.

"The head is out! Give me another big push," Violet exclaimed. Finally, a different noise filled the room. The cry of a baby. Violet scooped up a small squirming thing and rushed it out of the room. Cynthia showed them all out as Hope moved to place her hands on Sienna.

Cecilia followed Violet into another room. Casey stood out in the hallway awkwardly. Cecilia and Violet both came out. Cecilia was cradling the small infant.

"Meet the newest addition to the camp, Casey." Cecilia smiled.

"We need to tell Riley to up the number to two hundred and thirty-nine." Casey chuckled, grinning at the small bundle of life.

Violet led them back into the bedroom where they'd left Sienna. As they entered Hope looked up at them with sorrowful blue eyes.

"I did all I could but there was nothing I could do. I felt her life slip right my fingers. She never even knew the gender."

Violet walked out and came back carrying a sheet.

"Rest In peace Sienna." She sighed, laying the sheet over her body.

"Who's the father?" Cecilia asked as the baby let out a wail. It was like the child could sense the loss of its mother.

"Unknown." Cynthia sighed.

"It's that girl you always wanted Sienna. We'll take good care of her for you." Violet spoke to Sienna's body.

"What should we name her?" Hope softly questioned.

"Kimi, Kimi Chenoa. After her aunt." Cecilia announced.

"Her aunt was killed shortly after we fled camp." Cynthia sighed.

"Let's go tell the others," Violet suggested.

They all filed out and onto the landing. One by one they picked their way down the creaky stairs down to the others.

"Sienna Chenoa has passed away but we will keep her alive in our memory." Cecilia started. Everyone fell silent and turned to face them.

"She is survived by her daughter Kimi Chenoa." Cecilia continued. "I know it's been hard since the camp separated, it's been hard for us too. We've also experienced loss. But we have a new safe house for all you. We are not out of this fight. EG believes they have us on the run but that's not the case. We will regroup and we will make them regret the day they attacked us. Kimi here is proof that we need to fight this battle to the bitter end so she will never have to. So that she and others like her will grow up safe and with more opportunities than any of us ever had. We will deliver a blow to EG just like they've dealt us a blow. But first, we must reunite and recover. We may have fewer people than before but we will still be stronger than ever when we finally strike back. We will not stay down forever." Cecilia announced.

She finally locked eyes on the boy she'd been looking for. Warm brown eyes, reddish brown messy curls, caramel colored skin, and a fiercely determined look.

"Glad to see you're still with us Cade." Cecilia smiled.

"Glad to still be here. When are we moving out?" Cade inquired, an amused but inquisitive look on his face.

"As soon as your group is ready." Cecilia nodded.

"Give us ten," Cade replied.

"I'll start the clock now. Not a second more." Cecilia teased.

Cade rolled his eyes and laughed as he merged back into the group. Cecilia readjusted Kimi and watched the others gather up all their debris. This was only the start. Someday in the near future, they'd all be back together, well almost all of them. She sighed and looked at the newborn in her arms. They would find a way to do this. They had to do this for the next generation.


End file.
